Indonesia, 18 April 2020 The body of a suspected coronavirus victim, wrapped in yellow infectious waste plastic bags and wrappers, lies on the patient's deathbed awaiting a body bag in a hospital in Indonesia. The wrapping of the patient, which takes two nurses a full hour to complete through three layers of plastic and nine times of disinfection, is intended to suppress the spread of coronavirus. As mandated by the Indonesian Ministry of Health, the wrapping of the body is a standard procedure for every suspected, comorbid, and positive confirmed COVID-19 deaths. This process continues until today. As is the case with most victims, family members were not allowed to say goodbye. After the image was published by National Geographic, the image sparked denial and uproar across social media. Many who saw the image declared it to be a set up intended to spread fear. By the end of the year, 563 medical workers in Indonesia have perished due to the pandemic, with the country’s coronavirus toll reaching over 800,000 cases and 20,000 deaths.
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Jakarta, Indonesia
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Joshua Irwandi

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Joshua Irwandi is a documentary photographer and a National Geographic Explorer based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Irwandi has a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of Exeter, and pursued graduate studies in photojournalism and documentary photography at the London College of Communication. While working in West Papua, Indonesia, Irwandi was embedded as museum staff at the Asmat Museum and focused on a long-term project on the Asmat people. His project Not A Blank Canvas’” was awarded the National Geographic Society storytelling grant in 2021.

Irwandis work is part of the Forhanna Foundation Fund for Young Talent and National Geographic Societys COVID-19 Emergency Fund for Journalists grants. He was exhibited at Breda Photo Festival in the Netherlands. One of his images, The Human Cost of COVID-19,” sparked controversy in Indonesia when it went viral after publication by National Geographic. In 2021, he was selected as one of the speakers for the National Geographic Societys Storytellers Summit. Recently, he was awarded the 2021 World Press Photo Award in General News, Grand Prize winner for Lucie Foundation, and selected as a finalist of The Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography, among several other awards.

Irwandis work has been featured in National Geographic, NHK, The Times of London, The Globe and Mail, CNN, TIME and The Guardian.