Australia will provide immediate health support to Indonesia as it battles its deadliest COVID-19 wave yet, amid growing pressure for the government to step up its response to the escalating crisis 'on its doorstep'.
Australia will provide immediate health support to Indonesia as it battles its deadliest COVID-19 wave yet, amid growing pressure on the government to step up its response to the escalating crisis"on its doorstep".
The package will include $12 million for oxygen-related and other medical equipment, including 1,000 ventilators, up to 700 oxygen concentrators and more than 170 oxygen cylinders, along with 40,000 test kits. "Further to Prime Minister Morrison’s announcement at the G7 Summit to provide at least 20 million COVID-19 vaccines for the Indo-Pacific region by mid-2022, 2.5 million of these vaccine doses will be shared with Indonesia to support its national vaccine rollout."
Speaking to SBS News before the federal government's announcement, Save the Childre's Dino Satria, who is based in Jakarta, said the Indonesian government"is preparing for the worst case scenario". Mr Satria said medical aid, such as oxygen and PPE, is urgently needed but vaccines are the most effective means of bringing the virus under control.
Mr Satria said hospitals are dangerously close to capacity, adding that even those fortunate enough to get a bed are dying because of acute shortages. "We know what COVID-19 has done to countries in the region such as India, and now that it's coming to Indonesia at this sort of scale, Australia has a responsibility as a neighbour and a friend of Indonesia to respond," he earlier told SBS News.