TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The COVID-19 task force expert team member, Dewi Nur Aisyah, admitted that Indonesia’s positivity rate had significantly increased for the past three months as August 2020 logged 15.43 percent positive cases - a stark contrast to the World Health Organization’s safe limit of 5 percent.

The latest record on September 3, 2020, amounts the total COVID-19 cases to 180,646 with 129,971 recoveries, and a total death toll of 7,616 cases.

She said there are three causes that have further spread the infection rate in Indonesia, as the following explains:

1. Hospital cluster

Dewi explains in BNPB’s Youtube video on Thursday that the current major positivity rate that has come from patients that have visited hospitals. The average people visiting hospitals amount to 60-70 percent with a positivity rate of roughly 15.43 percent.

2. Lengthy holidays

She noted that the recent series of national holidays dubbed “long weekend” in August helped increase the number of cases which is confirmed by the sudden spike in the COVID-19 case graph by the end of August.

“The last week of August saw a 32.9 percent increase in cases,” said Dewi.

3. The emergence of new COVID-19 clusters

The COVID-19 task force member explains that the increasing recorded cases is also due to the emergence of new infection clusters emerging in crowded areas such as Islamic boarding schools and the country’s industrial complex.

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DEWI NURITA