Indonesia Claims Peak Of Latest COVID-19 Wave Has Passed

Indonesia has passed the peak of the latest COVID-19 wave and started to see improvements, the country's health minister said earlier in the week, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

Photo Insert: Indonesia Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin

Indonesia imposed a partial lockdown on July 9 amid record coronavirus infections on Java and Bali islands, where more than 50 percent of Indonesia's 270 million people live.

The measure is due to expire on Monday but the government has not announced whether it will be extended.

"We can see that we have passed the peak, especially in Java and Bali," Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said. "We are seeing improvements," he said, citing declining bed occupancy rates in hospitals.

"I know it's not 100 percent and we need to continue to be vigilant, but this is something to be grateful about."

Indonesia recorded 22,404 COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, taking the total number of confirmed infections to nearly 3.5 million, according to the ministry. Another 1,568 fatalities overnight brought the virus-related death toll to 97,291.

At its peak in mid-July, the country's COVID-19 daily caseload reached an average of 50,000, dominated by the highly contagious Delta variant.

So far, over 47.6 million Indonesians have been vaccinated, mostly using the jab developed by China's Sinovac, but only 20.9 million have received a second dose.

Indonesia has set the target of inoculating 208 million people by early next year in a bid to achieve herd immunity.

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