Volunteer undertakers carry Indonesian dead from homes as COVID-19 deaths rise

Novi Bawazir, 42, accompanied by her 11-year-old son, Muhammad Faith Atthalah, cries as they attend the burial of Novi's 64-year-old mother, Yoyoh Sa'diah, who passed away due to complications related to COVID-19 whilst isolating at her home, in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 8, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

After his work as a taxi driver dried up because of Indonesia's new coronavirus restrictions, Ardi Novriansyah offered his driving skills to help his home city's buckling medical system.

Ardi, 41, is one of about 35 volunteers in Bogor, south of Jakarta, who recover the bodies of people that have died from COVID-19 while isolating at home.

Grabbing what sleep he can on a couch at the group's headquarters in an unused building, Ardi has received call outs 24 hours a day over the past month.

Ardi Novriansyah, 41, a volunteer undertaker wearing personal protective equipment has a rest while recovering the body of 64-year-old Yoyoh Sa'diah who passed away due to complications related to COVID-19 whilst isolating at home in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 8, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Ardi says his interest in humanity led him to take such a difficult job along with the camaraderie with his fellow volunteers.

"What's important is that we have a desire to help as volunteers, for humanity," he said.

The sight of dead bodies is something he adjusted to during an old job as an ambulance driver.

Wahyu Triesnajaya, 56, a communications officer for the group of volunteer undertakers, talks on a radio at the group's headquarters in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 8, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Indonesia is struggling to cope with a devastating wave of COVID-19 cases driven by the highly contagious Delta variant, which has left hospitals overflowing and meant many infected people unable to get a hospital bed simply die at home.

During a recent call out, Ardi's team retrieved the body of the mother of Novi Bawazir, who said the family had been unable to get the 64-year-old into a bed in hospital as her oxygen levels plummeted.

"My mother had a 97 rate on the oximeter," Novi said, referring to a device measuring oxygen saturation in the blood. "Within an hour, it was 37, and within minutes, she was gone."

Ardi Novriansyah, 41, a volunteer undertaker wearing personal protective equipment is seen inside an ambulance, transporting the body of 64-year-old Yoyoh Sa'diah who passed away due to complications related to COVID-19 whilst isolating at her home, as locals watch from a distance in the Mulyaharja neighbourhood in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 8, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Donning white protective suits, Ardi and another crew member picked up her embalmed body, placed it in a coffin and prayed over it before driving to the cemetery for a burial.

Sadly, the sudden death of Novi's mother is typical of what Ardi's team is seeing at the moment.

Lapor COVID-19, a domestic group that collects pandemic data from the community, said that since June 625 people, mainly in Java, have died of COVID-19 outside of hospitals, the majority of them in self-isolation.

Masks and personal protective equipment are burnt after the funeral of a 86-year-old man who passed away due to complications related to COVID-19 whilst isolating at home, at a burial site provide by the government for COVID-19 victims in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 9, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Rino Indira, the coordinator of the volunteer undertakers in Bogor, said a 24-hour hotline had been set up and the team was helping to plug a hole in the city's strained healthcare system.

"This is an emergency situation in Bogor," said Rino, who is also part of the local government's COVID-19 task force, adding that his team is picking up about seven to nine bodies a day.

Indonesia, which is the world's fourth most populous country with more than 270 million people, has this week seen infections hit a record daily high approaching 57,000, up sevenfold from a month ago, and the death toll has doubled from early July to about 1,000 per day.

Ardi Novriansyah, 41, and Pram Mahendra Wardhana, 41, volunteer undertakers wearing personal protective equipment help a relative to carry the coffin of 64-year-old Yoyoh Sa'diah who passed away due to complications related to COVID-19 whilst isolating at home in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 8, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

(Reporting by Willy Kurniawan and Stanley Widianto; Editing by Ed Davies and Christian Schmollinger)

Gravediggers wearing personal protective equipment unload the coffin of 64-year-old Yoyoh Sa'diah who passed away due to complications related to COVID-19 whilst isolating at her home, from an ambulance to the burial site in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 8, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

A view of discarded boots belonging to gravediggers after the funeral of an 86-year-old man who passed away due to complications related to COVID-19 whilst isolating at home, at a burial site provided by the government for COVID-19 victims in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 9, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Novi Bawazir, 42, wearing personal protective equipment, prepares for the embalming of her 64-year-old mother, Yoyoh Sa'diah, who passed away due to complications related to COVID-19 whilst isolating at home in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 8, 2021. The family had been unable to get the 64-year-old into a bed in hospital as her oxygen levels plummeted. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Volunteer undertakers work at the group's headquarters during a shift recovering the bodies of those who have passed away due to complications related to COVID-19 whilst isolating at home in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 11, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Komarudin, 48, a volunteer undertaker, prepares his personal protective equipment at the group's headquarters before collecting the body of a person who passed away due to complications related to COVID-19 whilst isolating at home in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 11, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Ardi Novriansyah, 41, a volunteer undertaker, rests at the group's headquarters during his shift recovering bodies of those who have passed away due to complications related to COVID-19 whilst isolating at home in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 11, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Gravediggers wearing personal protective equipment lower the coffin of 64-year-old Yoyoh Sa'diah who passed away due to complications related to COVID-19 whilst isolating at her home in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 8, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

A gravedigger wearing personal protective equipment rests after the burial of 64-year-old Yoyoh Sa'diah who passed away due to complications related to COVID-19 whilst isolating at her home in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 8, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Police officers wearing personal protective equipment mark the coffin of a 86-year-old man who passed away due to complications related to COVID-19 whilst isolating at home, before a burial in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 9, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Sinta, 32, and her brothers use plastic to cover the body of their 56-year-old mother who passed away at home due to complications related to COVID-19, before the burial, in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 11, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Ardi Novriansyah, 41, a volunteer undertaker, dons his personal protective equipment at the group's headquarters, before recovering the body of a person who has passed away due to complications related to COVID-19 whilst isolating at home in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 11, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Police officers wearing personal protective equipment arrive at a house to help embalm the body of someone who passed away due to complications related to COVID-19 whilst isolating at home in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 9, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Police officers wearing personal protective equipment pray before the burial of a 86-year-old man who passed away due to complications related to COVID-19 whilst isolating at home in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 9, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Ardi Novriansyah, 41, a volunteer undertaker, sits in an ambulance, preparing to take the body of 56-year-old woman who passed away at home due to complications related to COVID-19, for burial in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 11, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Relatives wearing personal protective equipment carry the body of 64-year-old Yoyoh Sa'diah who passed away due to complications related to COVID-19 whilst isolating at her home, to be embalmed, in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 8, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

A neighbour of 64-year-old Yoyoh Sa'diah who passed away due to complications related to COVID-19 whilst isolating at her home, wearing personal protective equipment, is sprayed with disinfectant before embalming the deceased, in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 8, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Relatives pray before the burial of a 56-year-old woman who passed away due to complications related to COVID-19 at home in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 11, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Ardi Novriansyah, 41, a volunteer undertaker, rests at home after his shift recovering the bodies of those who have passed away due to complications related to COVID-19 whilst isolating at home in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, July 9, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan