Heru Andriyanto, Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – Indonesia recorded a relatively low number of new Covid-19 cases on Saturday as the Delta variant outbreak seems to ease compared to the situation last month.
The country of 272 million registered 10,050 new cases to take its total to 4,066,404, government figures show. At its peak last month, the daily tally could reach as high as 56,000 cases.
There has been a steady decline in the seven-day average since the record high on July 27 – from 50,000 cases to currently around 15,000.
The daily death toll also fell to the lowest numbers since July 6, with a further 591 Covid-19 deaths in the past 24 hours to bring the total fatality toll to 131,372.
However, Indonesia has been averaging more than 1,000 Covid-19 deaths since the Delta strain became the dominant variant in the country's outbreak in mid-July. It's the highest fatality toll in the world at the current stage of the pandemic.
The total number of active cases stands at 227,182, the lowest in more than two months.
A further 1.37 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine were administered in the day, taking its total to roughly 96 million since mass inoculation began on January 13.
More than 34.7 million citizens have been fully vaccinated to date.
President claims progress
Later in the day, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said the push for vaccination is making progress, with Indonesia ranked seventh in the world in the number of administered doses.
"Of 220 countries worldwide, the rank of our vaccination numbers is not bad," he told a gathering of leaders of political parties grouping in the government coalition at the State Palace in Jakarta.
The hospital bed occupancy rates also fell significantly to around 30 percent at present, in comparison to more than 80 percent last month, he added.
But the president expressed concern that the death toll remains dangerously high. "The death toll is the remaining issue still unsolved at present. We must do our utmost to curb the numbers," Jokowi said.