JAKARTA, Feb 15 (Bloomberg): Indonesia added the most Covid-19 cases since the pandemic started, as the virus’s spread driven by the more transmissible omicron variant outpaces the previous delta wave.
The government reported 57,049 new infections on Tuesday, with 134 people dying from the disease.
Monday's number also meant its total tally of infections was increased to 4,901,328, the country's health ministry said.
According to the ministry, the death toll from Covid-19 in the country rose by 134 to 145,455, while 26,747 more people recovered from the disease during the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 4,349,848.
But fatalities are lower than during the peak of the delta wave, when more than 2,000 people died in a day, leading the government to ease some restrictions in cities while still warning people against gathering.
The hospitalisation rate is showing signs of plateauing in the capital Jakarta, while still picking up in other areas, as the health ministry adds more beds.
Jakarta’s bed occupancy rate for Covid-19 patients fell to 51% as of Feb 14, compared with 66% a week ago.
In neighboring province of West Java, about 47% of beds are filled, from 32% last week.
As the Indonesian government is accelerating its national vaccination programs to curb the spread of the virus, more than 188.59 million people have received the first dose of vaccines, while over 136.64 million have taken the second.
Aiming to fully vaccinate 208.2 million people in the country, the government has administered over 332.51 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccines, including booster shots.
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