Indonesia reports more than 20,000 COVID-19 cases in new daily high
People wearing protective face masks walk on a sidewalk, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Jakarta, Indonesia, June 17, 2021. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana
JAKARTA: Indonesia recorded its biggest daily increase in coronavirus cases on Thursday (Jun 24) with 20,574 infections, taking the country's total tally to 2,053,995 cases, according to data from the country’s health ministry.
The data also showed there were 355 new deaths, taking the total number of fatalities to 55,949.
With the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is currently grappling with a surge of infections following last month’s Idul Fitri holiday where people returned to their hometowns and throngs of people crowded tourist spots.
The country also reported on Thursday 9,201 cases who have recovered from their illness, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,826,504.
As of Thursday, there were 171,542 active COVID-19 cases.
READ: WHO warns of fresh Indonesia COVID-19 surge fed by virus variants
READ: Jokowi aims to vaccinate 7.5 million Jakartans by end August, but experts say herd immunity is not a given
President Joko Widodo has set a target for 7.5 million out of 10.5 million people in the capital city Jakarta to be vaccinated by the end of August.
While Jokowi, as the president is popularly known, acknowledged that the target is quite ambitious, he said the vaccination had to be done to achieve herd immunity in the capital.
He has been criss-crossing vaccination centres in Jakarta, keeping tabs on the national vaccination programme and rallying those in the capital city to get inoculated quickly.
The Hong Kong government on Wednesday said it would ban passenger flights from Indonesia from Friday, deeming the country's arrivals "extremely high risk" for COVID-19.
Authorities said flights would be suspended after the number of imported COVID-19 cases from Indonesia crossed thresholds set by the global financial hub.
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