ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health

Poverty, disease, customs: Why so many Indonesian children die of COVID-19

Debiyantoro (left) and Siti Halimah Puspita Sari hold a portrait of their daughter, Alesha Kimi Pramudita, who died from COVID-19 at 22 months old, in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on July 31. The disease kills far more children in developing countries than in rich ones, and some factors make them especially vulnerable in Indonesia. | ULET IFANSASTI/THE NEW YORK TIMES

By Muktita Suhartono, Richard C. Paddock and Dera Menra Sijabat
The New York Times

Aug 15, 2021

BULUS WETAN, Indonesia –

When Debiyantoro, a hotel repairman, first lost his sense of taste, he wondered briefly if it might be COVID-19, but he quickly dismissed the idea. Having the disease would mean not being able to make a living.

Now he blames his reluctance to get tested for the death of his 22-month-old daughter, Alesha Kimi Pramudita. All 10 members of their crowded household suffered COVID-19-like symptoms, but none were tested until Kimi went for an unrelated checkup. Hospitalized immediately, she died a day later.

"Although I thought it might have been COVID, I was afraid I wouldn’t be allowed to work, which means I couldn’t have supported my family,” Debiyantoro, who like many Indonesians uses one name, said as he tried to hold back tears. "But now I am filled with remorse that I lost my daughter.”