Indonesia Faces Covid-19 Surge in Mid-June

KOMPAS.com - The daily confirmed active Covid-19 cases began to show an increasing trend in recent days in Indonesia. Based on Worldometers on Thursday, June 10, cases in the country rose to 8,892 within one day from 2,000 to 3,000 cases per day in mid-May.

“Looking at the increasing number of cases per day, the upward trend in Covid-19 cases began around the third week of May,” Coordinator of the Pandemic Talks Data, Neser Ike, told Kompas.com, Saturday, June 12.

An epidemiologist from Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Riris Andono Ahmad told Kompas.com, the increase in cases was due to the high number of the movement of people during Eid holidays in mid-May. It occurred after the two-week incubation period, or the timespan the virus entered the body until the disease appeared.

Also read: Covid-19 Cases Surge in 10 Indonesian Provinces

This figure, according to Riris, could increase many times, especially if the movement of people is not restricted. The multi-fold increase in the number is called the exponential.

On May 24, Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Airlangga Hartarto, who is also the Chairman of the National Committee for Handling Covid-19 and Economic Recovery, had previously given a warning about the potential surge in cases, reflecting from the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Based on data from Pandemic Talks, five regions that are experiencing a significant increase in Covid-19 cases include Aceh, Riau, North Maluku, West Nusa Tenggara, and Central Java. Therefore, the implementation of micro-scale community activity restrictions or locally known as PPKM Mikro was again enforced and applied throughout Indonesia.

KOMPAS.com / KRISTIANTO PURNOMO Traffics on Gatot Subroto Street, Jakarta, Monday, May 17, 2021, the first day of work after the Eid holiday.

KOMPAS.COM/DENDI RAMDHANI Medical officers took a patient to the Emergency Room at Hasan Sadikin Hospital (RSHS), Bandung. Community activities during the Eid holiday triggered an increase in Covid-19 cases in West Java.

ANTARA FOTO/SAIFUL BAHRI Newcomers queued to undergo a rapid antigen test at the Prohibition Post in the Larangan Tokol Village, Pamekasan, East Java, Tuesday, June 8. The Pamekasan regional government has imposed isolation and rapid antigen testing for newcomers who will enter the regency, following a spike in Covid-19 cases in Bangkalan in the last two weeks.

screenshoot Trends in daily cases of Covid-19 in Indonesia from the Worldometers page.

(Writers: Rosy Dewi Arianti Saptoyo, Retia Kartika Dewi | Editors : Inggried Dwi Wedhaswary, Rizal Setyo Nugroho)

Sources:

https://www.kompas.com/tren/read/2021/06/12/182700165/-warning-dari-lonjakan-kasus-harian-covid-19-di-indonesia

https://www.kompas.com/tren/read/2021/06/13/143000165/kasus-covid-19-melonjak-ini-penyebab-dan-daerah-dengan-kasus-tinggi