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Indonesia's COVID-19 cases decline despite return of Ramadan bustle
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Worshipers pray to mark the start of Ramadan at Al Akbar Mosque in Surabaya, East Java, on April 2. (AFP/Juni Kriswanto)
I
ndonesia has seen a declining number of daily COVID-19 cases in the past few weeks despite the continued relaxation of pandemic rules and an increase in public mobility.
The total virus caseload has dropped around 38 percent in the past week from 15,055 cases to 9,329, while the number of active cases fell by 34.7 percent from 98,000 cases to 64,000.
On Thursday, Indonesia recorded 833 new cases of COVID-19. It was the first time the country recorded less than 1,000 daily cases since mid-January. During the third COVID-19 wave fueled by the highly contagious Omicron variant, daily cases climbed rapidly from mere hundreds in mid-January to a peak of more than 63,000 cases by Feb. 17.
The positivity rate also dropped below 1 percent on Thursday – to 0.85 percent – for the first time since January. The bed occupancy rate has dropped to 4 percent as of Wednesday, down 2 percent from the previous week.
These improving numbers occurred amid unprecedented relaxations of COVID-19 restrictions as Indonesia seeks to gradually transition to endemicity.
Last month, authorities waived mandatory quarantine for fully vaccinated international visitors and lifted the COVID-19 test requirement for domestic travelers who have received booster shots.
For the first time in two years, the government has allowed Muslims to pray at public mosques without physical-distancing requirements or a limit on the number of worshipers allowed to gather at any one time.
