A South Korean woman in the city of Solo, Central Java killed herself over her suspicions that she was infected with the novel coronavirus, Indonesian authorities say, even though she tested negative for COVID-19 in postmortem.
According to local police, the victim, who is identified by her initials JEH (57), was found hanged in a hotel room on Feb. 23.
“We found a note from her, in Korean, which said that she was tired of never recovering from a disease, and she felt that she may have been infected with the coronavirus,” Solo Police Chief Grand Commissioner Andy Rifai told reporters yesterday, as quoted by CNN Indonesia.
Indonesian authorities say JEH worked as a quality control officer at an undisclosed company in Klaten, Central Java for the past year. She recently traveled to China and South Korea before returning to Indonesia through Yogyakarta on Feb. 16.
Despite her recent travel history, Andy said JEH tested negative for COVID-19 in postmortem. Her body has been cremated and her ashes is set to be sent to her family in South Korea.
The Presidential Palace urged that anyone in Indonesia — citizens or otherwise — who suspect that they may be infected with the coronavirus should immediately see healthcare professionals.
“We will help. In times of a global emergency like this, we’re not thinking in terms of Indonesian citizens or foreigners, we’re thinking in terms of humanity,” presidential staffer Dany Amrul Ichdan told Detik today.
Indonesia has confirmed zero cases of COVID-19 so far while its neighbors grapple with the disease. Concerns over Indonesia’s ability to detect the coronavirus are increasing, as a number of foreign nationals who recently traveled to the country, particularly Bali, have tested positive for the disease upon returning to their respective home countries. It has yet to be determined if they contracted the virus while in the archipelagic nation.
Meanwhile, South Korea has confirmed more than 4,000 COVID-19 cases amid a recent dramatic spike, with 22 people killed by the disease as of this morning.
Suicide is often a taboo topic in Indonesia while depression is often brushed off as a sign of weakness in the sufferer. Indonesia currently does not have a dedicated government-run suicide prevention hotline, so if you or anyone you know is suffering from depression and/or contemplating suicide, you can get help from several local NGOs dealing with mental health and suicide prevention, such as saveyourselves.id.
