Bali Governor Wayan Koster believes that hospitals in Bali are manipulating numbers to increase the fatality rate of COVID-19 in Bali.
The accumulated deaths from COVID-19 has reached 538 cases in Bali as of Monday (4/1), making Bali province one of the highest in Indonesia.
Reacting to this data, Governor Koster said that most of the cases were rather caused by comorbid conditions.
“In many cases, the patient died due to previous health issues, not from the virus itself” said Koster during a press conference on Tuesday (5/1).
(Image: ©The Bali Sun – I Wayan Yatika)
He even stated that some hospitals in Bali are guilty of manipulating the number of COVID-19 death cases.
“Some patients who had died from other illnesses before reaching the hospital then tested positive with COVID-19 once the body arrived at the hospital, their cause of death was also classified under COVID-19 by the hospital” Koster added.
Koster claimed that Sanglah Hospital, Bali Mandara Hospital and other public hospitals across Bali are responsible for this act.
(Image: ©The Bali Sun – I Wayan Yatika)
Koster will not pursue legal action towards said institutions at this time.
“It would be unethical to file a lawsuit against them while patients have been buried,” Koster concluded.
Meanwhile, the Head of Bali Health Agency, I Ketut Suarjaya clarified that the governor did not mean to direct all accountability on hospitals.
“It really depends on the result from the laboratory. Even though the patient is already deceased, if they happen to test positive with COVID-19, no matter what kind of illness they had, the cause of death will be linked to COVID-19” Suarjaya concluded.
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