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.”