Background

The global COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 pandemic disproportionately affects low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), but rigorous research of its clinical management and consequences in those settings is lacking. With the fourth-largest population (270 million) globally, Indonesia is facing tremendous challenges, particularly in Jakarta and other hot zones, with the highest death toll in the region.

Systematic approaches are urgently needed to “learn-as-we-go” by characterising clinical patterns, management and outcomes of hospitalised COVID-19 patients, analysed in an international context, to improve the constantly evolving national response.

The project accrues a prospective observational cohort of hospitalised COVID-19 patients in multiple hospitals in Jakarta and Medan, with additional sites being linked in other cities in Indonesia, to generate this critically needed evidence. Clinical data have been shared with the ISARIC platform to support global data analysis. This work also establishes a research platform for ancillary studies of disease mechanisms and therapeutic intervention studies, including the use of wearable devices for patient monitoring, inflammation markers, and SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance.

Aims

1. To describe the clinical patterns, severity, and current management of COVID-19 patients, estimate the disease outcomes, and identify associated factors in Indonesia.
2. To inform local clinical practice and national policy based on this evidence and identify specific gaps in care.
3. To establish a COVID-19 clinical research platform for studies and trials.