Indonesia new ‘epicentre of Asia’ as virus cases skyrocket
Even as daily infections top 54,000, experts say true numbers are much higher
JAKARTA: Indonesia posted record daily infections topping 54,000 yesterday as the highly infectious Delta variant rips across the archipelago, catapulting it ahead of India as Asia's Covid-19 epicentre.
The country has been battered by a virus explosion that has overwhelmed hospitals, leaving scores to die at home, while desperate relatives hunt for oxygen tanks to treat the sick.
Yesterday, Indonesia's Health Ministry posted a record 54,517 cases and 991 deaths - recent daily mortality rates are as high as 10 times the numbers from last month.
UNDERCOUNTED
But the official data is widely believed to be severely undercounted because of low testing rates and poor contact tracing.
"Indonesia could become the epicentre of the pandemic... it is already the epicentre of Asia," said epidemiologist Dicky Budiman, an Indonesian who is at Australia's Griffith University.
"If you look at the population difference between India and Indonesia... then the pandemic is far more serious than in India."
Indonesia's real number of daily cases could be topping 100,000 a day, and threatens to double by the end of the month with as many as 2,000 daily virus deaths, he warned.
Last week, Indonesia rolled out tighter curbs - including shutting down shopping malls, restaurants and offices - in its hard-hit capital Jakarta, across densely populated Java and on holiday island Bali.
It later extended a web of less severe restrictions across the country.
Now there are fears that Eid al-Adha celebrations, which start next week, could spark another explosion in cases in the Muslim-majority nation.
"Any mass gathering will only accelerate infections," Dr Budiman said. - AFP
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