TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Jakarta feels COVID-19 pinch as calls grow to tighten curbs
Health experts are calling on the government to tighten public restrictions in Greater Jakarta amid growing complacency as COVID-19 numbers continue to rise.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Youths hang out on July 14, 2022 at a park near the Dukuh Atas MRT station in Central Jakarta. (Antara/Muhammad Adimaja)
J
o:p>Jakarta, once again the epicenter of the latest COVID-19 wave in the country, has seen a sharp rise in the week’s caseload to a level not seen in months, which has sparked calls for tighter controls.
The capital, currently under the lowest level of the four-tier public activity restrictions (PPKM), is seeing a concerning increase in new cases fueled by the fast-spreading Omicron subvariants BA.4, BA.5 and BA.2.75.
Since the fourth and latest coronavirus wave started at the beginning of June, Jakarta has been steadily contributing roughly 50 percent of all new cases detected nationwide. Some 23,000 out of the country’s 46,000 active cases had been reported in the capital as of July 27 and it reported 3,279 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday alone, the highest since March 10.
The nation’s weekly figure has increased around 25 percent from 14,700 to 18,500 cases.
Meanwhile, the positivity rate for the capital has increased more than threefold in the past month to 17 percent, more than triple the 5 percent threshold of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Although the Omicron subvariants are reportedly less likely to make people sick or cause severe illness, hospitalization for COVID-19 has steadily risen across the capital. The bed occupancy rate has increased 45 percent over the past month to 12 percent, nearly three times the national average of 4.6 percent.
