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Has Indonesia’s Delta peak passed? Experts say not yet
Epidemiologists warn that the country is not yet out of the woods when it comes to the recent surge of cases driven by the Delta variant of the coronavirus, considering the persistently high death rates, fluctuating virus figures in Java and the continuing rise of cases in Bali and outlying regions.
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People wait to get COVID-19 vaccines during a vaccination drive held by the Financial Services Authority (OJK) in Palembang, South Sumatra on July 13. (Antara/Feny Selly)
T
he government claims nationwide COVID-19 infections have been slowly decreasing since the officially recorded case peak last month, but epidemiologists have warned that the country is not yet out of the woods, considering the persistently high death rates, fluctuating virus figures in Java and the continuing rise of cases in Bali and outlying regions.
Driven by the more transmissible Delta variant, daily new COVID-19 cases reached more than 56,000 nationwide last month, pushing the healthcare system to the brink of collapse as hospitals on Java experienced shortages of beds and oxygen while trying to accommodate an overflow of patients.
The government has since committed to extending its multi-tiered public activity restrictions (PPKM) on a weekly basis to ensure that restrictions are in line with the latest data, despite the unreliability of government statistics.
One senior official said the current four-tiered system would remain in place until the end of the pandemic.
In recent days, the government has claimed that the worst of the Delta surge has passed, with Health Ministry spokesperson Widyawati announcing over the weekend that nationwide new COVID-19 cases had decreased by 18 percent over the past week.
“Indeed there has been a decline, but the increase in cases is still occurring, although not as [quickly] as before, especially in areas outside Java and Bali," she told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Over the past week, case declines were reported in Jakarta, West Java, South Sumatra and the Riau Islands.
