We All Knew Someone Who Died
Sumiati is a nurse working back-to-back shifts in COVID-19 rampaged city of Bandung, Indonesia. She is living in a rented apartment near the hospital she works at, away from her husband and two children, for fear she would carry the virus home. Two of her colleagues recently passed away: a fellow nurse who was 5 months pregnant and elderly nurse who had been vaccinated but succumbed to the infection. She had just lost her father, who followed health and safety protocols religiously, but couldn’t stop going to the mosque. Her family suspected he got the virus there.
Eddy is an office worker whose company is not allowing some of their employees to work from home. Before vaccines were administered, there were more frequent infections in their office buildings. Since then, the numbers have dipped lower, only to shoot upwards again. He is one of the lucky ones, because he could do most of his work from home. At every Zoom meeting, there is always somebody who has lost someone.
I am an Indonesian who is living in the United States. Even from far away, I knew about their deaths. They are family members, friends and their families, and countless strangers. I know some of them very well, like Mr. Tarut, who died of the virus after getting infected by someone he hired to bathe his dogs at his home. A distant cousin died in her sixth month of pregnancy, and was buried with her unborn baby. Several babies and young kids were also laid to rest in the same cemetery. Even if I only knew their names, I still grieve for them.
When the virus is all around you, would it be possible to avoid contact entirely? Jakarta (Indonesia’s capital city) has population density of about 13,000 per square kilometer. In comparison, population densities in Los Angeles and NYC are about 8,500 and 10,000 per square kilometer, respectively. Only essential businesses are allowed to open full time. Houses of worships are allowed to open with reduced capacity. However with that kind of population, are those preventive measures enough?
My brother, who lives in Jakarta, avoids grocery shopping and instead opts for grocery delivery. Staying fully at home and avoiding contact with anyone outside the household are key to survival now. Medicine is scarce and oxygen tanks virtually impossible to secure, however many people still refuse vaccinations. They could be the ones walking around without masks and pass you by when you go out.
Some people seem to know that things could become worse very quickly. They have fled to safer places — to Bali for WFB (Work from Bali), to Singapore (their investment condos) or to the US (could be their favorite destination and/or where their children reside).
As both the wealthy and the poor wait in line to get hospital beds, oxygen tanks and medication — that are all dangerously becoming more scarce — the latter are hit worse. People who are living below the poverty line are supposed to receive pandemic handout, however Indonesia’s Social Minister Juliari Batubara has been suspected to have taken bribes in this matter and is now undergoing prosecution. Indonesia has no social security system that allows the government to send the funds directly to each recipients.
Amongst all the woes, our family received good news. My 84 year old uncle survived COVID-19. He was already fully vaccinated prior to getting infected with the virus. The lesson seems to be: get vaccinated.
