Indonesia's suspected child coronavirus deaths highlight danger

[Gert van der Hoek]

Twenty-eight children confirmed dead from COVID-19, but government suspects some 715 deaths linked to virus.

12 Jun 2020

Hundreds of children in Indonesia are believed to have died from COVID-19, giving the Southeast Asian country one of the world's highest rates of child deaths from the novel coronavirus, which experts around the world say poses little danger to the young.

Paediatricians and health officials in the world's fourth-most-populous country said the high number of child deaths from a disease that mostly kills the elderly was due to underlying factors, in particular malnutrition, anaemia and inadequate child health facilities.

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-...virus/12356444

Why are so many Indonesian children dying from coronavirus?
By Max Walden and Hellena Souisa
Posted Yesterday

As Indonesian authorities look to ease coronavirus restrictions, doctors are warning that children seem particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 in South-East Asia's most populous country.
Key points:

A peak paediatrician body found 160 children with suspected COVID-19 had died
Poor nutrition can lead to stunting in children, making them 10 times more vulnerable to sickness
Indonesia's low rate of testing means the true number of cases could be much higher

According to Australia's Department of Health, emerging epidemiologic reports on COVID-19 in children show that while they are less likely than adults to be infected and have severe illness, they are still vulnerable.

Nevertheless, nobody under the age of 18 has died in Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore. The youngest person to die from COVID-19 in Australia was a 42-year-old Filipino man.

But in Indonesia, senior doctors have warned that more than 100 children may have died from the coronavirus.

And as Indonesia transitions to what the Government calls a "new normal", the country's curve continues to steepen.

So why have so many Indonesian children died from COVID-19 and is Government policy to blame?...