PRESS RELEASE

The Government Must Improve the Accuracy of Death Data, Not Ignore It

ReportCovid-19 urges the government not to ignore death data as an indicator for evaluating the implementation of PPKM. Death data is an indicator of the impact and scale of the pandemic that citizens need to know so as not to ignore the risks. The government is obliged to improve technical data collection, and include data on probable deaths, not eliminate it.

August 11, 2021 Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan stated that the government does not use death data as an indicator to evaluate the implementation of Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) Level 4 and PPKM Level 3 in a number of regions. This was done because the reported death data turned out to be inaccurate due to input data which was an accumulation of death figures over the previous few weeks.

In the implementation of PPKM Levels 4 and 3 which will be carried out on 10-16 August 2021, there are 26 cities or districts that have dropped from Level 4 to Level 3. This shows a quite significant improvement in conditions on the ground. "We carried out this evaluation by issuing a mortality indicator in the assessment because we found that there was input data which was an accumulation of death rates over the past few weeks, causing distortions in the assessment," said Luhut in a press conference broadcast on the Coordinating Ministry for Marves' Youtube, Monday (9/8/2021).

Death Data as an Indicator of the Impact of a Pandemic Should Not Be Eliminated

The government's decision not to use death data in evaluating PPKM Levels 4 and 3 is certainly questionable. This is because death data is a very important indicator to see how effective the government's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has been.

The inaccuracy of existing death data should not be a reason for the government to ignore this data. By realizing that death data is inaccurate, the government should try to improve the data so that it is truly accurate.

Moreover, the death data that has been announced by the government is actually not enough to describe the magnitude of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is because the number of deaths announced by the central government is still far less than the data reported by the regional government.

The government should also publish the number of people who died with probable status so that the public understands more accurately the impact of the pandemic. Improvements to this data must be made, rather than ignoring death data and not using it in PPKM Level 4 and 3 evaluations.

Death data gaps continue to occur, data collection technical improvements are urgent

Based on data collected by the LaporCovid19 team, there are more than 19,000 deaths that have been reported by district/city governments, but not recorded in central government data. Data from 510 district/city governments collected by the LaporCovid19 team shows that, as of August 7 2021, there were 124,790 residents who died with positive Covid-19 status.

Meanwhile, the number of positive Covid-19 deaths published by the central government at the same time was 105,598 people. This means that between district/city government data and the central government, there is a difference of 19,192 deaths.

Data source: city/district websites (some of the provincial websites) throughout Indonesia collected by KawalCovid19 and daily reports from the Indonesian Ministry of Health and then processed by the LaporData LaporCovid19 Team.

If broken down, here are the 10 provinces with the largest difference in positive death rates:

Central Java -9,662
West Java -6,215
IN Yogyakarta -889
Papua -663
West Kalimantan -643
North Sumatra -616
Central Kalimantan -301
East Java -294
Banten -140
West Nusa Tenggara -112

As of 7 August 2021, the 10 provinces with the largest number of deaths are as follows:

Central Java 31,914
East Java 2,297
West Java 16,534
DKI Jakarta 12,750
IN Yogyakarta 4,737
East Kalimantan 3,886
Riau 2,828
Lampung 2,603
Banten 2,437
Bali 2,385

These 10 provinces represent 82.5% of the number of positive Covid-19 deaths in Indonesia.

Published Death Data Does Not Include Probable Deaths

Death data published by the government so far does not include deaths of residents with probable status. Based on data collected by LaporCovid19, the accumulation of probable deaths in Indonesia has reached at least 26,326 people.

Therefore, if positive Covid-19 deaths are added to probable deaths, the total deaths related to the pandemic in Indonesia have reached 151,116 people.

Deaths During Self-Isolation Continue to Occur

On the other hand, the number of deaths that occur outside hospitals has not been properly recorded in the government's recording system. In fact, based on data collected by the LaporCovid19 team, many residents died while undergoing self-isolation at home or other places.

From the beginning of June to 7 August 2021, the LaporCovid19 team recorded that at least 3,007 residents died outside hospitals. The actual number of deaths could be much higher because the data only comes from 108 cities/districts in 25 provinces.

Moreover, currently, only one province, namely DKI Jakarta, publishes data on deaths of residents during self-isolation. Therefore, LaporCovid19 urges other regional governments to publish data on the number of deaths of residents during self-isolation. This openness is important so that people better understand the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

About ReportCovid-19

LaporCovid-19 is a platform for fellow citizens to share information regarding the number of incidents related to COVID-19 around us. A bottom-up approach through citizen reporting or crowdsourcing so that every citizen can participate in conveying information about cases related to COVID-19. For more information, visit:

Website: www.laporcovid19.org ,
IG : @laporcovid19 ,
Twitter : @laporcovid ,
FB: Citizens' Coalition to Report Covid-19

Contact Person:
Said Fariz Hibban (+62 815-2744-0489)

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