Covid-19 Cases in Kudus Skyrocket 7.594% after Eid Holiday, 53.4% National

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia faced a surge of Covid-19 infections by 53.4 percent within three weeks after the Eid holiday, according to the spokesman of the National Task Force for Covid-19 Handling, Wiku Adisasmito.

Central Java reported the highest increase among other provinces with 120 percent, followed by Riau Islands with 82 percent, West Sumatra with 74 percent, Jakarta with 63 percent, and West Java with 23 percent.

When viewed by regency or city, Kudus Regency in Central Java recorded the highest hike reaching 7,594 percent. “With the bed occupancy rate (BOR) of up to 90.2 percent,” said Wiku in an online press conference, Wednesday, June 9.

Other than Kudus, several other regencies or cities also reported a spike in cases of more than 100 percent, including Jepara that recorded 685 percent with the bed occupancy rate of 88.18 percent, Demak (370 percent with BOR of 96.3 percent), Sragen (338 percent with BOR of 74.84 percent), Bandung (261 percent with BOR of 82.73 percent), Cimahi (250 percent with BOR of  76.6 percent), Pati (205 percent with BOR of 89.57 percent), Semarang (193 percent with BOR of 87.95 percent), and Pasaman Barat (157 percent with BOR of 75 percent).

The spike in cases, Wiku opined, was attributable to family gatherings, outings, and religious events that attracted crowds during the Eid holiday. Thus, regional governments are asked to keep conducting massive testing and tracing and ensure the implementation of 524 hours quarantine for residents returning from cross-regional traveling.

However, Wiku said the post-Eid Covid-19 cases this year were more controlled than the previous year. “If seen from the data of the third week after Eid, the difference is more significant. In 2020, the surge hit 80.5 percent, while in 2021, it is only 53.4 percent,” he explained.

Read: Kudus Sets Up Roadblocks, Closes Tourist Sites due to COVID-19 Surge

DEWI NURITA