Indonesia Highlights: Indonesia Sets New One Day Record of Covid-19 Cases With 14.224 | Casualties at Majene Regency Earthquake in West Sulawesi Increases to 46 Dead, 826 Injured | South Kalimantan

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia continues to deal with ongoing and new challenges, among them the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and natural disasters in the eastern part of the country.

Covid-19 continues to grip Indonesia despite the delivery of millions of vaccines to counteract the pandemic, as the country broke its one day record of cases with 14,224.

Meanwhile, the number of casualties from the 6.2 Richter scale earthquake in West Sulawesi province’s Majene regency has risen to 46 deaths and 826 injured, a day after the quake struck the area on Friday, January 15.

And floods in South Kalimantan that occurred simultaneously with the West Sulawesi earthquakes left at least five dead and displaced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. Read on to get the rest of these news, as curated by our editors:

ANTARA FOTO/ASPRILLA DWI ADHA A passersby in Depok, West Java neglects to wear his mask as he walks past a Covid-19 themed mural urging the public to comply with health protocols urging their use on Wednesday, (6/1/2021). ANTARA FOTO/Asprilla Dwi Adha/aww.

Indonesia Sets New One Day Record of Covid-19 Cases With 14.224

The Covid-19 vaccines arriving to Indonesia amid much fanfare has yet to be the much touted game-changer against the coronavirus, as the country sets a new record for cases in one day with 14,224 on Saturday, January 16.

The Covid-19 Task Force announced that the stats brough the number of coronavirus cases closer to 900 thousand. “The number of cases brough the total number of people afflicted with Covid-19 to 896,642,” the Task Force said in a press release.

“This number [of cases over one day] is the highest yet since Covid-19 was detected in Indonesia on March 2, 2020. It also broke the previous record of 12,818 set on Friday, January 15.” These include 283 deaths, which brough the Covid-19 death toll up to 25,767 people.

On the other hand, the number of people recovering from coronavirus stands at 7,662, bringing the total number of recoveries to 727,358. The Covid-19 Task Force also suspected that there are 69,414 suspected Covid-29 cases in Indonesia.

The pandemic has spread to 510 regencies and cities in the country’s 34 provinces.

Source:

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/01/16/15443361/tambah-14224-kasus-covid-19-dalam-sehari-indonesia-catat-rekor-lagi. 

ANTARA FOTO/SIGID KURNIAWAN Joint SAR teams evacuate the remains of a person killed by rubble after a 6.2 Richter scale earthquake struck the city of Mamuju and the rest of Majene Regency, West Sulawesi on Saturday (16/1/2021). The disaster left 46 people dead, 826 injured, and damaged 415 buildings and homes. ANTARA FOTO/Sigid Kurniawan/rwa.

Casualties From Majene Regency Earthquake in West Sulawesi Now Stand at 46 Dead, 826 Injured

Indonesia’s National Board for Disaster Management [BNPB] has announced that the number of casualties in the 6.2 Richter scale earthquake in West Sulawesi province’s Majene Regency has increased to 46 dead and 826 injured on Saturday, January 16, a day after the natural disaster.

The head of the BNPB’s Center for Data, Information and Disaster Communications Raditya Jati noted that “the city of Mamuju bore the brunt of the casualties, with 37 deaths, while the rest of Majene reported nine deaths,” he said in a press conference on Saturday, January 16.

“The quake injured 826 people, up from 637 on the first day of the disaster. The disaster also damaged 415 houses and other buildings, up from 62 structures.” The damaged facilities included the governor’s offices and the Mankarra Hospital.

The area was also hit by a 5 Richter scale earthquake on Saturday. President Joko Widodo’s administration has declared an emergency in West Sulawesi following the earthquake.

The government also sent Social Affairs Minister Tri Rismaharini and BNPB head Doni Monardo with supplies to aid the province.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency [BMKG] reported that the earthquake occurred six kilometers northeast of Majene at a depth of 10 kilometers. However, they assured that the earthquake will not bring about a tsunami.

Source:

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/01/16/17160301/update-gempa-majene-mamuju-46-meninggal-826-luka-luka. 

ANTARA FOTO/BAYU PRATAMA S People in South Kalimantans Banjar regency attempt to flee rising flood waters sweeping across the province on Friday (15/1/2021). South Kalimantan Governor Sahbirin Noor declared an emergency in the province, as the floods killed five and displaced over 112 thousand others from their homes ANTARA FOTO/Bayu Pratama S/foc.

South Kalimantan Floods Leave Five People Dead, Displace 112 Thousand Others

Aside from the earthquake in Majene, West Sulawesi, the BNPB is tallying the damage from devastating floods that swept the province of South Kalimantan.

“The rising waters in South Kalimantan has left five people dead in Hulu Sungai Tengah Regency and drove 112,709 people from their homes,” said BNPB’s Center for Data, Information and Disaster Communications Raditya Jati on Saturday, January 16.

“The floods inundated 27,111 houses in Hulu Tengah regency and six other regencies [across South Kalimantan].”

Raditya added that BNPB also gave Rp. 3.5 billion [$248,781.05] in aid to deal with the effects of the flood. “The aid consists of five refugee tents, 100 beds, a 10 meter folding boat with engines and life vests, as well as hundreds of foodstuffs and masks,” he asserted.

South Kalimantan governor Sahbirin Noor has declared an emergency in the province since the natural disaster struck yesterday. The floods occurred after days of heavy rain.

Source:

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/01/16/18300271/update-banjir-kalsel-5-orang-meninggal-27111-rumah-terendam-112709-warga?page=all#page2.