Indonesia's COVID-19 Cases Relatively Under Control: Task Force

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The spread of COVID-19 infections in Indonesia is relatively under control, with the percentage of active cases remaining below the global average, said spokesperson for the Task Force for COVID-19 Handling, Prof. Wiku Adisasmito.

"If we look at the national level, our number of active cases is 12.52 percent, while in the world, the active cases are 26.79 percent. So, we are lower and the difference is 14.27 percent," Prof. Wiku said during a dialogue organized by the Task Force for COVID-19 Handling at Graha BNPB, Jakarta on Monday.

According to Wiku, Indonesia has reached this figure after an increase in infections following several long holidays and after adding over 4,000 cases per day in September this year.

The number of active cases, or patients who are still undergoing treatment due to COVID-19, have continued to decline over time, Wiku, who is also the coordinator of the task force’s expert team, said.

This has been achieved due to good cooperation between all parties, especially the government and society, he added.

"This is a joint national achievement. It turns out that the community and government can jointly control cases," the University of Indonesia (UI) academic remarked.

In addition to the trend in active cases, Indonesia has seen a significant increase in the number of recovered patients, with the recovery rate reaching 84.14 percent to date, compared to the global average of 70.71 percent, he informed.

“So, the difference is 13.4 percent. Our recovery cases are higher than global cases, while our death cases are at 3.34 percent; with (the figure pegged at) 2.5 percent for the world, we are still slightly above global (average), namely 0.84 percent," Prof. Wiku said.

Meanwhile, Indonesia clocked in 3,881 new recoveries from COVID-19 in the 24 hours ending Sunday, taking the total recoveries to 368,298, according to data from the Task Force for COVID-19 Handling.

With 3,880 more people testing positive for the virus as of Sunday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has risen to 437,716. The country reported its first cases in March, 2020.

Data also shows the number of COVID-19 fatalities have climbed by 74 to reach 14,614.

As of Sunday, 54,804 COVID-19 patients are undergoing treatment and conducting self isolation, the task force reported.

COVID-19 cases have been reported from all 34 provinces in the country.

In the past 24 hours, five provinces have reported a high number of new cases, with 826 cases recorded in Jakarta, 640 cases in Central Java, 479 cases in West Java, 282 cases in East Java, and 201 cases in East Kalimantan.

Jakarta is still leading in terms of the number of people testing positive for COVID-19, with 112,027 cases recorded so far. However, nearly 90 percent, or 101,707 patients have recovered, while 2,365 patients have succumbed to the infection.

North Maluku has been the only province to report no new cases on Sunday.

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