Zacharias Wuragil, Jakarta – Indonesia recorded over 1,000 daily cases of Covid-19 over the weekend. According to the Health Ministry, there were 1,264 new cases and five deaths on Saturday, and 1,167 new cases and three deaths on Sunday.

Over 1,000 daily cases have been recorded since mid-last week, doubling from the previous weekend's infection rates, when the average daily logs was recorded at just half.

Tjandra Yoga Aditama, a professor at the University of Indonesia's Faculty of Medicine, and former director of WHO Southeast Asia, said that hospitals and health facilities must be prepared starting now to anticipate a surge in infection from the new variants.

"Although the hospitalization rate is still low, if the daily cases are high, it is likely that more people would need to be hospitalized," he told Antara, Sunday 19 June 2022.

So far, he said, the Omicron BA.4 or BA.5 sub-variants have not caused severe symptoms, which is likely the reason why the hospitalization rate is low.

However, several European countries are anticipating the possibilities of hospitalization, especially ICUs for the elderly. "Perhaps it is better if we also prepare the same thing," he said.

Source: http://en.tempo.co/read/1603751/indonesias-daily-covid-19-cases-exceed-1000-over-the-weeken