Maria Fatima Bona, Jakarta – Indonesia has recorded more than 1,000 new Covid-19 cases in a day for six consecutive days that should be greeted with alarm, a government spokesman said on Tuesday.

The recent hike was a major setback in the country's fight against the pandemic after successfully containing the daily tally below the 1,000 mark for more than two months.

"Although the surge isn't high relative to the overall Indonesian population, it should alarm us," National Covid-19 Task Force spokesman Wiku Adisasmito said in Jakarta.

The country has added 7,587 cases in the past seven days, in comparison to 3,688 cases in the same period previously, or an increase of 105 percent, he added.

Jakarta alone recorded 2,769 cases in the past week, while West Java added 686 cases to the national tally.

The weekly death toll also rose sharply to 44 from 28 in the previous week.

The country of 273 million has recorded a total of 6.07 million cases and 156,695 deaths since the pandemic began in early 2020.

About 168.5 million people or 80 percent of the target population have received two doses of the vaccine against Covid-19 as of Tuesday, according to Health Ministry data.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/daily-covid-number-tops-1000-in-last-six-day