General
Indonesians open up about the impacts of long COVID, one year since the country’s first case

Juno Simorangkir was supposed to leave the emergency COVID-19 hospital in Jakarta after he tested negative, but his journey with COVID-19 didn’t end there.
Key points:
- Long COVID symptoms were experienced by 63.5 per cent of 463 surveyed patients in Indonesia
- Many have faced stigma at work or from neighbours during their recovery
- One expert says using the recovery rate as a parameter of success is fraught
Mr Simorangkir experienced COVID-19 symptoms 11 days after Indonesia announced its first case on March 2 last year.
After almost two months of hospitalisation and isolation, he thought his health would go back to normal, until his body “became suddenly limp” and he nearly fainted.
“My [stamina] dropped and when I was about to eat, I could…
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