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Indonesian COVID-19 deaths surpass, within weeks, 17 years of bird flu fatalities
COVID-19 has killed 170 people in Indonesia within weeks of the country’s first confirmed case.
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An illustration of the magnified novel coronavirus pathogen is displayed beside laboratory glassware inside the Pasteur Institute laboratories in Lille, France, on March 9. (Bloomberg/Adrienne Surprenant)
T
he number of COVID-19 fatalities in Indonesia in the month since its first confirmed case has officially surpassed the country’s total avian influenza death toll over nearly two decades.
On Thursday afternoon, Indonesia’s death toll reached 170 after the country recorded 13 new fatalities nationwide, Health Ministry disease control and prevention director general Achmad Yurianto said.
The total number of nationwide infections has hit 1,790 with 113 new confirmed cases, Yurianto added, while those who had recovered from the disease had increased to 112.
The 170 deaths from COVID-19 in Indonesia have now surpassed the 168 deaths caused by avian influenza recorded in the country between 2003 and 2020, according to World Health Organization data.
The bird flu caused by the H5N1 virus – which was first detected in Indonesia in 2005 – infected a total of 200 people in the country.
Read also: Indonesia announces Rp 405 trillion COVID-19 budget, anticipates 5% deficit in historic move
The numbers seem to support the conclusion that the global pandemic is spreading at a faster rate than the previous major outbreak in the archipelago.
Indonesia's current COVID-19 mortality rate, 9.4 percent, is among the highest in the world.
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo announced the country's first two confirmed COVID-19 cases on March 2.
The provinces of Java now contain the majority of the country’s total infections, as combined cases from Jakarta, Banten, West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java totaled 1,519 as of Thursday.
The capital remains the country’s hardest-hit location with a total of 897 positive cases and 90 fatalities to date. (rfa)
