949 medical workers in Indonesia die of Covid

Of the 949 medical workers, 401 were doctors, 315 nurses, 150 midwives, 15 pharmacists, 43 dentists, and 25 medical laboratory experts, reports Xinhua news agency.

"The extraordinary surge in the number of patients in hospitals has increased the working hours of medical workers and doubled their risks of being exposed to the coronavirus," Khumaidi said on Friday.

He said the surge in Covid-19 cases could not be resolved simply by increasing the bed capacity in hospitals, but it had to be addressed from upstream by enhancing public order on health protocols.

In May 2021, seven doctors died due to the disease, but the number jumped to 24 in June 2021.

January 2021 witnessd the highest number of 65 Covid-19 deaths among medical workers.

Since the onset of the pandemic last year, Indonesia has reported a total of 2,072,867 Covid-19 cases and 56,371 deaths.

According to the World Health Organization, the country has administered 36,581,555 of the Covid-19 vaccines doses till date.