In the face of the “worst case scenario,” Indonesia has a COVID-19 min more than Reuters

By Gayatri Suroyo and Stanley Widianto

(Reuters) – A top minister said on Thursday that Indonesia was battling the “worst case” epidemic, adding that the government was preparing for another rise in coronavirus cases as the more viral variant of Delta spreads.

The world’s fourth most populous country is struggling to slow down COVID-19 transmission after still implementing the most demanding mobility, while its immunization rate is low, as only 5.8% of its 270 million people have been completely vaccinated.

Indonesia registered 56,757 new cases on Thursday, surpassing the number of daily infections in India, with more than 400,000 cases a day at its peak in May.

“It’s fair to say that Indonesia is the epicenter of Asia,” said Dicky Budiman, an epidemiologist at Griffith University in Australia.

High Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said daily cases could still rise as the first identified Delta variant in India has a two- or three-week incubation period.

“We are already in our worst case scenario,” Luhut said.

“If we’re talking about 60,000 (a case a day) or a little more than that, we’re fine. We hope not to have 100,000, but even if we get there, we’re preparing for that,” he added.

The government has turned the building into an isolation facility, set up new graduate doctors and nurses to care for COVID-19 patients, and said it has imported oxygen and drugs.

The Indonesian Food and Drug Agency (BPOM) has authorized the use of ivermectin against parasites for emergencies against COVID-19, a health ministry official told Reuters. BPOM did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Although the World Health Organization has recommended that COVID-19 not be used for patients, it has been used in several countries to treat respiratory diseases, including India.

BPOM also approved the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine on Thursday, and Indonesia will receive 50 million doses.

Crowded hospitals on the island of Java have been flooded in recent weeks, with many struggling to get treatment and hundreds dying in self-isolation.

Cases and bed occupancy rates have also risen in some parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan and in more remote regions such as West Papua, where health facilities are less well equipped to fix the outbreak.

Luhut said the effectiveness of the vaccine is weaker when the Delta variant spreads rapidly throughout Java, but called for people to be inoculated to help prevent serious illness and death.

He said the government was examining the situation and would decide whether or not to extend the restrictions from July 20.

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s COVID-19 working group said health protocols are not widely used, despite mobility limitations.

According to the KSPI union, more than 10% of workers in the manufacturing sector have been polluted and many have died, with some factories defying the law and operating at full capacity.

“This is very worrying and puts the survival of the business world and the lives of employees at risk,” KSPI President Said Iqbal said at a press conference.