Indonesia Sets New Covid-19 Record for Cases in 24-Hour Period

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – The Covid-19 pandemic continues to have a stranglehold on Indonesia as the country broke a record for the most cases in a 24-hour period with 8,369 on Thursday, December 3. This brought the national total of coronavirus cases to 557,877.

“This increase in cases proved that the government has yet to control the Covid-19 pandemic nine months after it was first found in Indonesia on March 2,” said the Covid-19 Task Force in its website www.Covid19.go.id and the Ministry of Health’s website www.Kemkes.go.id .

Also read: Indonesia's Medical Community on Record Covid-19 Infections: Stay Home!

The number of deaths currently stands at 17,355 after the recent addition of 156. On the other hand, 3,673 coronavirus patients recovered during the same 24-hour period, bringing the number of recovered cases in Indonesia to 462,553.

The task force also estimated that there are 77,969 active Covid-19 cases, while an additional 69,027 are suspected of contracting the coronavirus.

Covid-19 Task Force spokesman Wiku Adisasmito was alarmed by this recent development.

“[The number of cases] are unacceptably high. It also shows that the coronavirus’ rate of transmission continues to rise as the public is increasingly negligent of health protocols,” he said.

Also read: Indonesia Could Face the Worst of Its Covid-19 Battle in 2021

“The public should realize that their complacency can have fatal consequences. Do not wait until the number of cases surged before they comply with health protocols.”

He called on the public to bolster health protocols, among them washing hands, wearing masks, and practicing social distancing.

The Covid-19 pandemic has been traced in 507 regencies and cities throughout all of Indonesia's 34 provinces, or 98 percent of the country's area.

Jakarta bore the brunt of Covid-19 case numbers with 140,238. 2,734 people died of the coronavirus, while 127,136 cases recovered from the coronavirus.

(Writers: Tsarina Maharani, Fitria Chusna Farisa | Editors: Bayu Galih, Icha Rastika)

Sources: 

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/12/03/16161231/update-rekor-8369-pasien-dalam-sehari-total-557877-kasus-covid-19-ri?page=all#page2. 

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/12/03/19322181/kasus-covid-19-terus-meningkat-satgas-sebut-masyarakat-kian-abai-protokol?page=all#page2.