Devastated Indonesian parents mourn children lost to COVID-19

The archipelago has seen a surge in child deaths since the Delta variant took hold in July.

Paga / Jakarta, Indonesia – At a hospital in Indonesia’s Sikka regency, funeral workers have come to collect a small coffin left outside the emergency ward. It is light enough for the two workers to carry with ease. Inside is the body of a two-month-old baby. Her name was Maria. “The symptoms were coughing, runny nose and fever. Now, our child has died,” her mother, Mari Balu, said.