Grave digger's fear of nCoV 2
Their group quickly switched from digging new graves to burying bodies, trying to complete the task in 10 minutes to limit the possibility of nCoV infection.
`The most worrying part was carrying the coffin, because we had to touch it,` Hakim, 42, said.
A group of gravediggers bury a coffin at Pondok Ranggon cemetery, capital Jakarta on May 6.
There are about 50 gravediggers at the Pondok Ranggon cemetery, one of two designated places to bury Covid-19 patients in the Indonesian capital Jakarta.
Every day they dig at least 20 new graves, marking them with white wooden posts recording the name, date of birth and date of death of the dead.
`Ambulances are constantly bringing bodies,` Hakim said.
He and his colleagues worked in the hot sun, not far from relatives who were in pain because they were not allowed to perform prayers for the deceased.
`My heart broke when I saw the families crying,` Mr. Minar, 54, said.
This challenge is magnified during Ramadan, when believers in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country, are not allowed to eat or drink anything during the day.
Naman Suherman said he was able to overcome hunger and thirst by believing that he was doing something good for the victims.
A grave digger at Pondok Ranggon cemetery, capital Jakarta on May 6.
It is unclear how many people have died from nCoV in this country of more than 260 million people.
Officials admit that the data is still not consistent and complete.
Other cities have also seen unusually high numbers of people being buried in recent months, suggesting there are more Covid-19 victims than claimed.
That fact comes as no surprise to the gravediggers at Pondok Ranggon cemetery.
`At first, none of us knew anything about Covid-19,` Mr. Minar said.
Despite the precautions, Hakim said his neighbors suddenly shunned him since the first cases appeared in March.
`Even though they didn’t say it, I could feel them keeping their distance. It seemed like they were afraid of me,` he said.
