Coronavirus: Indonesia urged to tighten curbs during 4th wave as cases of Omicron subvariants rise
- On Tuesday, Indonesia had 2,167 new infections, with at least 143 cases of Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 – a number health experts said was ‘the tip of the iceberg’ due to a lack of testing
- The country has persistently recorded an increase in new cases in the past weeks, with the health minister predicting a peak of ‘17,000 or 18,000’ daily cases around the third week of July
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin made the prediction on Sunday, based on the virus’ transmission pattern in South Africa, the first country that reported the emergence of the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5. If the same infection rate applies in Indonesia, the country would see around “17,000 or 18,000” daily cases during the peak before the wave flattens, Budi said.
“But the number of hospitalisations and fatalities will be far lower than the previous waves,” he added.
Southeast Asia’s biggest economy has persistently recorded an increase in new Covid-19 infections in the past weeks, recording 2,167 daily cases on Tuesday, the highest since early April. Since Friday, Indonesia has also seen at least 143 cases of Omicron BA.4 and BA.5, though health experts warned that this number was only “the tip of the iceberg” due to lack of testing and tracing, a fundamental problem the country has had since the pandemic was declared more than two years ago.
Some provinces, such as Jakarta and Banten, have recorded a positivity rate beyond the World Health Organization’s standard of 5 per cent, which dictates that any rate below it means that the pandemic is under control. However, minister Budi has claimed that Indonesia’s national Covid-19 positivity rate is currently tracked at 3.61 per cent.
“We do see an increase of daily cases, from 200 to around 2,000 daily cases, at the moment. But during the peak of previous waves, the daily cases in Indonesia reached up to 60,000 cases per day,” Budi said, adding that the public should remain calm and stay alert during the current wave.
