No signs of slowing for Indonesia’s grim Covid-19 tally

JAKARTA, 28 July 2020:

The number positive Covid-19 cases in Indonesia has risen to 102,051 with the death toll now at 4,901 people.

Based on the latest data in the official Indonesian government website on Covid-19 today, 46,648 patients are being monitored for the infection.

From noon yesterday to noon today, there were 63 more fatalities while 1,748 new positive cases were reported.

With 21,125 cases, East Java has the highest number of positive cases, followed by Jakarta (19,995) while the remaining cases were in other provinces.

East Java also has the most number of deaths from Covid-19 with 1,630 people followed by Jakarta (784), Central Java (582), South Sulawesi (311) and the remaining cases in other provinces in Indonesia.

Indonesian president Joko Widodo has already warned the people today of a possible second wave of the Covid-19 transmission.

The warning came amid the resurgence of the virus in some foreign nations after the relaxation of lockdowns and reopening business activities.

Jokowi, as the president is commonly known, called on the authorities to keep and step up precautionary strides in facing the threat.

“We must keep on alert over the possibility of the second wave and anticipating it,” Jokowi told a limited Cabinet meeting.

The threat came after the head of state conveyed the country’s convincing economic growth prospect with an estimate of 5.4% next year as predicted by the International Monetary Fund.

“I think this is a high growth projection, and should this be materialised, it suggests that our economy will accelerate at the fastest pace among the global economic expansion.”

Indonesia has recently eased restrictions applied to curb the virus spread along with the resumption of business activities and the reopening of tourist destinations under tight health protocols.

The spread of the Covid-19 virus in Indonesia has been afloat with daily cases reaching over 1,500, emboldened by the enlargement of red zones or high-risk areas.

Still, the upbeat sentiment over the vaccine availability for usage early next year helped offset the concern, according to the Covid-19 Task Force.

The number of red zones drifted to 53 this week from 35 last week and the number of orange zones jumped to 185 this week from 169 a week earlier, the country’s Covid-19 Task Force said yesterday.

– Bernama