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Indonesia's COVID-19 caseload surges to 8,000 per day
Health experts are calling for the government to reinstate stricter health measures under its four-tier PPKM scheme, which remains at level 1 even as daily cases have topped 8,000 and deaths continue to rise.
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Boosting boosters: A health worker administers a booster dose on Sept. 18, 2022, during the government’s COVID-19 vaccine drive at the Qbig BSD City mall in Pagedangan, Tangerang, Banten. The government is aiming to accelerate its booster drive to reach coverage of 100 million recipients by early next year. (Antara/Fauzan)
F
ollowing the current global trend, Indonesia has reached the 8,000 mark in its daily COVID-19 caseload, with experts suggesting that the highly contagious Omicron subvariant XBB, low booster dose coverage and health protocol complacency are to blame for the recent surge.
Health authorities reported 8,486 new cases on Wednesday, the first time in eight months since the country reported over 8,000 confirmed cases in March, when the country was recovering from its third wave of infections.
With the addition of the new COVID-19 infections reported on Wednesday, the country now has close to 58,000 active cases, more than double the 27,000 active cases it had at the start of this month.
Deaths are also on the rise, with authorities recording a total of 56 deaths on Monday and Wednesday. It is the first time that daily COVID-19 fatalities have reached above 50 deaths since April.
Other countries are also reporting a similar spike in their caseloads. According to the WHO’s latest weekly report, Southeast Asia and the Americas have reported a caseload increase of more than 10 percent over the past week, with Japan, South Korea and the United States being the biggest contributors.
Stricter measures
While the recent surge has come following reports of local transmissions of the XBB subvariant, health experts say that waning public adherence to the health protocols and low booster dose coverage are also to blame.
