Indonesia's COVID-19 Cases Rising in Past 2 Weeks: Task Force

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The COVID-19 Task Force reported Tuesday, Jan. 11, that Indonesia is facing a surge in COVID-19 confirmed cases in the last two weeks.

“Positive cases in Indonesia have increased for two consecutive weeks,” said the task force’s spokesman Wiku Adisasmito at a press conference on Tuesday.

The number of virus infections, he explained, jumped from 1,200 to 1,400 cases. It has even reached 3,000 cases in the last week, doubled from the previous week.

The rising case numbers must be anticipated further given that the surge following Christmas and New Year holidays could still occur in upcoming weeks moreover if the number of positive cases was compared to the number of recoveries in the past week.

According to Wiku, it was clear that the number of positive cases was higher than the number of recoveries. On January 6, the new daily case was recorded at 553, while there were only 209 cases of recoveries.

“In fact, data in the previous three weeks showed a fluctuating trend and the addition of recoveries is generally higher than positive cases. This surely is our notes,” he remarked.

To deal with these conditions, an in-depth investigation and analysis related to the proportion of virus variants circulating in the community are necessary.

Wiku also emphasized that the increase in COVID-19 positive cases, especially the Omicron variant, was still largely contributed by international travelers. Thus, the government must ensure that mandatory quarantine policy is carried out strictly in an effort to trace cases.

Read: Omicron Variant Widespread; Epidemiologist Talks of End of COVID-19 Pandemic

ANTARA