Indonesia extends mobility restrictions in some areas to Aug 9
JAKARTA: Indonesia will extend its strict Level 4 mobility restrictions in some areas until Aug 9, President Joko Widodo said yesterday.
People's movements are restricted under Level 4 curbs.
Workers in critical sectors like energy and health are the only ones allowed to go back to their workplaces.
Ministers would give further details later, he added.
Meanwhile, Indonesia's Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said yesterday that the devastating second coronavirus wave, which saw the country become the epicentre of Asia's Covid-19 outbreak, has peaked.
Driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant, Indonesia has over the past month faced a surge in cases that has overwhelmed hospitals and seen Covid-19 deaths soar to record levels.
"We can already see that the peak has been exceeded, especially in areas in Java," the minister said. "Improvements are starting to appear."
The spread of the Delta variant, first identified in India, saw infections hit record highs.
There were a record 56,757 cases on July 15, and a record 2,069 deaths on July 27.
POSITIVITY RATE
But while daily cases have started to drop, averaging 33,800 a day last week, the positivity rate remains high and there are fears the Delta variant could still ravage regions beyond Java, particularly in remote areas with ill-equipped healthcare services.
Mr Budi said yesterday that most of those who had died from Covid-19 were unvaccinated. - REUTERS
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