TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's independent data initiative, LaporCovid-19, found that over 19,000 Covid deaths reported by the district/city governments are not registered in the central government's records. The agency is calling for data transparency, particularly on the numbers of deaths during self isolation.

According to the data LaporCovid-19 collected from 510 local governments, as of August 7th 124,790 people have died infected with Covid-19. But at the same time, the number of coronavirus deaths published by the central government was only 105,598.

"This means that there is a difference of 19,192 deaths between district/city government data and the central government's," LaporCovid-19 data analyst Said Fariz Hibban said in a written statement, Wednesday, August 11.

According to Said, the 10 provinces with the biggest gaps in the number of deaths recorded are; Central Java with a difference of 9,662, West Java (6,215), Yogyakarta (889), Papua (663), West Kalimantan (643), North Sumatra (616) , Central Kalimantan (301), East Java (294), Banten (140), and West Nusa Tenggara (112).

Furthermore, he said that the casualty data published by the government does not include deaths of people with probable status. This is in contrast to the WHO's recommendation for governments to include probable cases in their Covid-19 casualty count.

According to the data compiled by LaporCovid-19, Indonesia has at least 26,326 deaths of probable cases. "If these are included, we would find that the pandemic has taken the lives of 151,116 Indonesians," he said.

Meanwhile, Said added, there are deaths outside hospitals that are not registered in the government records system. The fact is, based on data collected by the LaporCovid-19 team, many people have died in self-isolation, whether at home or other places.

From the start of June to August 7, 2021, LaporCovid-19 recorded at least 3,007 people died outside the hospital. The actual number could be far higher, as the data only came from 108 cities/districts in 25 provinces.

"As for now, only one province—Jakarta, publishes the data of people who died during self-isolation. Therefore we are urging other local governments to publish the number of deaths during self-isolation. Transparency is vital in helping people better understand the impact of Covid-19 pandemic," Said remarked.

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