JakartaPost-Mar 10, 2022
COVID-19 deaths continue to rise in Indonesia even though the third wave of coronavirus infections — fueled by the highly contagious Omicron variant — has been showing signs of easing these past weeks. Indonesia recorded 401 confirmed COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, an unprecedented high in the past three months since the discovery of the first known Omicron case in the country. The number, however, declined to 304 on Wednesday. The seven-day fatality rate has increased by 14 percent to 2,171 people from 1,862 in the previous week, even as the number of new weekly cases dropped by 29 percent from around 299,700 to 211,000. Health Minister spokesperson Siti Nadia Tarmizi said deaths would likely start to decrease a week after Indonesia reached its peak of the third wave. Experts have previously said that the COVID-19 fatality rate was a lagging indicator, meaning that it will rise two to three weeks after case numbers climb, as people dying are usually infected at least two to three weeks earlier. Epidemiologist Dicky Budiman said the government should ease restrictions cautiously, as despite improvements in several COVID-19 indicators, deaths still remained alarmingly high. He urged the government to strengthen its COVID-19 surveillance while easing restrictions, arguing that “every public health intervention is very important” to keep the outbreak under control and prevent more deaths. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2022/03/09/covid-19-deaths-remain-high-despite-drop-in-cases.html.
