Indonesia expects daily new Covid-19 cases to fall below 5,000 in Apr 22

• Indonesia expects its daily new coronavirus cases to fall below 5,000 in Apr 22 as two-thirds of its 34 provinces have seen a decline in cases.
• “We forecast daily new cases would return to below 5,000 a day within the next 40 days,” Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said.
• Charts issued by the Health Ministry on 2 Mar 22 showed the Omicron wave peaked at 64,718 daily cases last week, before the count consistently declined.
• The number of new Covid-19 cases recorded on 2 Mar 22, about a week after the peak, was 40,920. During the peak of the Delta wave in mid-Jul 21, 56,757 daily new cases were recorded.
• In the latest wave,15 of Indonesia’s 34 provinces, including Jakarta, Bali, West Java, East Java, South Sumatra, South Sulawesi and South Kalimantan, have recorded a significant drop in daily cases; 8 others that have recorded a more gradual slope down, or are starting to see a fall in numbers, include Central Java, North Sumatra and Lampung, data released on 2 Mar 22 by the Health Ministry showed.
• “Daily fatality rate nationwide… is still on an uptrend, but extrapolating the pattern of the last Delta wave, (the daily fatality rate) would start declining within the next two to three weeks from now,” Mr Budi said.
• Indonesia has fully vaccinated 69% of its eligible population, while 92% of the people have received the first shot as at 2 Mar 22, placing it among the world’s top five countries with the highest number of vaccinations.
• Indonesia plans to allow quarantine-free travel to its main tourist island of Bali starting from 14 Mar 22, or earlier, as a try-out, on condition that travellers must have been fully vaccinated, take a polymerase chain reaction test upon arrival and again in the hotel on the third day of their stay.
• From 1 Mar 22, travellers to Indonesia have to serve three days of quarantine, down from the previous five days.

External Link : https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/indonesia-expects-daily-new-covid-19-cases-to-fall-below-5000-in-april-says-its-health-minister-budi