Indonesia reports 33,729 new Covid-19 cases and 44 more deaths on Saturday as govt speeds up its vaccination programme

An Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) worker sprays disinfectant amid fears of another wave of the coronavirus outbreak at a low income neighborhood in Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022. Indonesia is bracing for a third wave of COVID-19 infections as the highly transmissible omicron variant drives a surge in new cases, health authorities and experts said. - AP

JAKARTA, Feb. 5 (Xinhua): Indonesia on Saturday confirmed 33,729 new Covid-19 cases, raising the total tally to 4,480,423, the country's Health Ministry said.

According to the ministry, the death toll from COVID-19 in the South-East Asian country rose by 44 to 144,497, while 10,471 more people recovered from the disease, bringing the total number of recoveries to 4,172,458.

As the Indonesian government is accelerating its national vaccination programs to curb the spread of the virus, more than 186.38 million people have received their first dose, while over 130.78 million have taken their second dose.

Indonesia started mass Covid-19 vaccinations in January last year after the authorities approved the emergency use of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine.

Aiming to fully vaccinate 208.2 million people in the country, the government has administered over 322.60 million doses, including the third booster jabs. - Xinhua