Indonesia Medical News: Indonesia COVID-19 Infections Spikes As Restrictions Eases
Source: Indonesia Medical News Jun 10, 2020 4 years, 6 months, 1 week, 5 days, 19 hours, 47 minutes ago
Indonesia Medical News: The South-East Asian country with the biggest population: Indonesia posted a record number of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infections on Wednesday, sparking calls from health experts for the world's fourth most populous country to slam the brakes on easing restrictions.
The week before, Jakarta the capital opened mosques for the first time in nearly three months, as its governor announced the gradual reopening of shuttered offices, restaurants, shopping malls, parks and tourist attractions.
Easing measures are happening across the vast archipelago, home to nearly 270 million people, as the government rolled out a "new normal" policy aimed at heading off a collapse in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.
However the moves come as Indonesia records a surge in coronavirus cases, with the one-day toll jumping to a new record of 1,241 infections on Wednesday, bring the total infected with the COVID-19 disease in the whole country to 34,316 .
The same day also saw 36 deaths bringing the total who have died from the coronavirus in the country to 1,959. Despite the fact that about 445,000 individuals have been tested, may medical professionals are saying the low figures of infections and deaths are due to under-reporting and also lack of testing. The country's real toll is widely believed to be much higher.
However the country's COVID-19 task force claimed that today’s rise was due to more effective monitoring.
The task force spokesman Achmad Yurianto told reporters, "The increase in new infections is the result of aggressive tracing. This proves that (tracing) is revealing more confirmed cases.
The sudden surge in infections comes after authorities in Muslim majority Indonesia struggled to contain a mass movement of travellers at the end of Ramadan last month.
Medical professionals warned that the country could see a spike in infections after the holy fasting month, and called for a reversal of easing policies.
Dr Panji Fortuna Hadisoemarto, an epidemiologist at Padjadjaran University said, "Regions that are planning to lift restrictions, or are already doing so, should revisit that decision. If the number of cases keep increasing in Jakarta for the next few days, I think the administration has to pull the emergency brake and bring back restrictions.”
Dr Henry Surendra, a Jakarta-based epidemiologist, acknowledged that better monitoring could be playing a role in the rise of confirmed cases.
However Indonesia had yet to meet WHO guidelines on prerequisites for easing measures, including getting infections under control, Surendra said.
He added, "It's a bit premature to lift restrictions. Indonesia should wait a little longer."
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