Jakarta – The percentage of infected people to die from Covid-19 has been steadily declining in Indonesia, the National Covid-19 Task Force claimed on Friday, despite a recent surge in daily deaths in the past week.

The infection fatality rate peaked in April, when the death toll averaged 8.64 percent of the overall confirmed Covid-19 cases, task force's lead expert Wiku Adisasmito said in a video conference in Jakarta.

The figure fell to 6.68 percent in May and was down further to 5.56 percent in June. "The fatality rate was recorded at 4.86 percent in July, moving closer to the global average of 4.2 percent," he said.

Improved case management and expanding hospital capacity have greatly reduced fatalities from the respiratory disease, he added.

"Today we have 23,519 isolation rooms and 188,510 isolation beds while our medical workers are gaining skill and confidence in treating Covid-19 patients. Moreover, the number of referral hospitals for Covid-19 patients has grown to 839 nationwide," he said.

Indonesia has recorded 93,657 confirmed cases of the virus as of Thursday, including 4,567 deaths.

Covid-19 death toll has been surging in the past week, when three highest daily deaths have occurred, including a record 139 on Wednesday. The country has been averaging 100 deaths since last week.

Daily Covid-19 deaths were particularly high in East Java, which saw a two-digit figure throughout this month. The worst hit province has recorded more than 1,500 deaths since the outbreak.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/indonesia-says-covid19-fatality-rate-declines