The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Indonesia is the new epicenter of the covid-19 in Asia, surpassing India

2021-07-15T17:19:08.494Z


Indonesia reported 54,517 new cases of covid-19, a record that puts the country at the epicenter of the pandemic in Asia, surpassing India.


Indonesia gives live chickens to vaccinated 0:44

(CNN) -

Indonesia reported 54,517 new cases of Covid-19, authorities reported Wednesday, a record for a single day and a red flag for the world's fourth most populous country.

The island country, which has about 270 million inhabitants, now registers more cases per day than India, which was badly hit by covid-19, making Indonesia the new epicenter of the pandemic in Asia.

If the spread doesn't slow down, experts say it could bring the Indonesian healthcare system to the brink of disaster.

  • Hundreds of health workers who were already vaccinated become infected with covid-19 in Indonesia

Some fear the situation is worse than the figures show, because not enough people are being tested for the virus.

A survey published on Saturday revealed that almost half of the 10.6 million inhabitants of Jakarta, the capital, could have contracted Covid-19.

An insufficient answer

Experts say Indonesia is now reaping the costs of failing to enforce strict closures or invest enough in effective contact tracing systems.

At first, authorities did not realize how quickly the virus had spread in this latest wave, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin previously told CNN.

Authorities are concerned that hospitals cannot cope with the growing number of patients requiring hospitalization, especially as the more infectious delta variant of the virus spreads.

Another 991 Covid-19 fatalities were also reported on Wednesday, bringing the total death toll to 69,210.

Authorities in Indonesia are struggling to vaccinate a sufficient number of people.

The state agency Antara News reported that 90,000 of Indonesia's 120,000 hospital beds are occupied.

Oxygen prices skyrocketed in late June, and now it appears that some hospitals are running out of oxygen.

More than 60 people died in a single facility earlier this month after a Java hospital nearly depleted its oxygen supply, although a hospital spokesperson could not confirm whether all the dead had contracted Covid-19.

advertising

The islands of Bali and Java - which are home to the densely populated capital Jakarta - were placed under emergency closure last week.

The authorities also have difficulty vaccinating a sufficient number of people.

Indonesia has only vaccinated 5.5% of its population, according to CNN's covid-19 vaccine tracking.

In Jakarta, around 2 million people - about 18% of the city's population - have been fully vaccinated, according to data from the Health Ministry.

President Joko Widodo said on Wednesday that vaccines are "Indonesia's hope to recover from this global health crisis."

Residents in Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, line up to refill oxygen tanks on July 15.

(Credit: Kriswanto / AFP via Getty Images)

"We must ensure fair and equitable access to vaccines, as we see that there is still a large gap in access to vaccines throughout the country," he said, according to Antara.

On Tuesday, nearly 3.5 million doses of AstraZeneca's covid-19 vaccine arrived in Indonesia as part of the global COVAX vaccine delivery program.

Indonesia has received more than 14 million vaccines through the program, according to state media

Covid-19 outbreaks in Asia

Indonesia is one of several countries in the region battling covid-19 outbreaks and striving to vaccinate its population.

India continues to report tens of thousands of new cases a day.

Myanmar's ruling junta reported 7,083 new cases and 145 COVID-19-related deaths on Wednesday, but social welfare groups fear the real situation has gotten much worse since the February military coup.

In Myanmar, many of those suffering from symptoms choose to stay home because they do not trust the hospitals run by the military.

Others claim that people have been turned away from the centers who have run out of intensive care beds and cannot take in more patients.

Covid-19 tests reused in Indonesia 0:45

Cases are also increasing in Malaysia.

The country's Ministry of Health reported 11,618 new infections on Wednesday, the highest total in a single day since the start of the pandemic.

The state news agency Bernama reported that almost 435,000 doses of vaccines were administered on Wednesday, a daily record in Malaysia's vaccination campaign.

Thailand is also suffering its worst outbreak of the pandemic.

To combat the spike, a government adviser backed a plan to mix doses of different coronavirus vaccines, despite public unrest.

The strategy has not been extensively tested.

In Northeast Asia, Japan and South Korea are also struggling to contain the cases, largely because they lag behind Western nations in their vaccination campaigns.

Various regions of South Korea have enacted new social distancing measures as the number of daily cases has reached new records.

Japan's capital Tokyo remains under a state of emergency that will last through the Olympics, which begin next week.

The Games will be held without spectators due to the pandemic.

With input from Amy Sood, Helen Regan, and Kocha Olarn.

coronavirusCovid-19

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2021-07-15

You may like

News/Politics 2024-02-08T09:53:00.397Z
News/Politics 2024-03-06T07:55:23.353Z

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-27T16:45:54.081Z
News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.