Indonesia Covid-19 Cases Rise by 100% in Past 8 Weeks: Task Force

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Covid-19 Mitigation Task Force revealed data that Indonesia’s number of positive cases kept worsening in the past two months. Since eight weeks ago, the task force noted that the surge exceeded 100 percent.

“Since the first week of November until now, which is for the past eight weeks, there has been a sharp hike in positive cases from 23,089 to 48,435 or by over 100 percent,” said the task force spokesman Wiku Adisasmito on Tuesday, Dec. 29.

Wiku reminded that the coronavirus infection not only takes lives but also places a huge burden on health workers and medical facilities in Indonesia. This week, he added, the positivity rate rose by 2.8 percent compared to the previous week.

“In this week, five provinces contributed the highest increase in positive cases, namely Jakarta with 2,204, Central Java with 1,248, South Sulawesi with 797, Yogyakarta with 263, and Central Kalimantan with 145 cases,” said Wiku.

He highlighted several regions including Jakarta which saw a hike of more than 2,000 confirmed cases for two consecutive weeks. Besides, Central Java, Yogyakarta, and Central Kalimantan also reported a significant spike in Covid-19 cases this week.

“I ask the public and the provincial governments I mentioned earlier to cooperate in implementing the health protocols with discipline,” Wiku asserted.

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EGI ADYATAMA