Indonesia reports biggest daily rise in coronavirus deaths
Hospitals in Jakarta at full capacity amid surge; govt to use hotels for quarantine
JAKARTA: Indonesia yesterday reported its biggest daily rise in coronavirus deaths with 160 fatalities as hospitals reported waiting lists for those infected.
Indonesia has reported 9,837 deaths overall, the highest death toll in Asia outside India.
It also reported 4,071 cases, bringing the total to 252,923.
Main hospitals in Jakarta have reported full occupancy with some having a waiting list of up to 20 confirmed Covid-19 patients seeking treatment.
To ease the pressure on hospitals in the capital, a city of more than 10 million, the government is making more rooms available at Jakarta's Wisma Atlet, an athlete's residence converted into a hospital for patients with mild symptoms.
The government is also set to tap three-star hotels as centralised quarantine centres for asymptomatic patients.
The city has 190 hospitals, according to Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan.
VACCINE'S NOT ENOUGH
Meanwhile, Malaysia's Health Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah warned Malaysians that getting a vaccine would not spell an end to their troubles, the Malay Mail reported.
He said: "No, even though we have the vaccine, you would still need to practice physical distancing.
"The vaccine means you are fighting the war inside your body, so it creates the antibodies to fight the war.
"Why not take the fight outside your body? Maintain a distance of one metre from others, wear a face mask and practice good hygiene."
Malaysia confirmed 82 cases yesterday, 60 of which were detected in Sabah. It now has a total of 10,358 cases and the death toll remains at 130.
The Philippines and India reported lower numbers.
The Philippines yesterday reported 1,635 cases, the lowest daily increase in infections in two weeks, and 50 new deaths.
This takes the total to 291,789, the highest in South-east Asia, while deaths have reached 5,049.
India yesterday reported 75,083 cases in 24 hours, the lowest daily tally in almost a month.
India has recorded 5.6 million cases, second in the world behind the United States.
There were 1,053 deaths over the same period, taking the total of deaths to 88,935. - THE STRAITS TIMES, THE STAR, REUTERS
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