Indonesia Reports Over 48,000 New COVID-19 Cases in One Day... Highest Daily Increase Worldwide

Residents line up in front of an oxygen refilling station in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, on the 12th (local time) to purchase oxygen for COVID-19 patients.
[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Indonesia's new COVID-19 cases have reached about 48,000, continuing to set a record high. The speed of this increase in cases is the fastest in the world, surpassing India and the United Kingdom.

On the 13th, Indonesia's Ministry of Health announced that the number of confirmed cases increased by 47,899, bringing the total to 2,615,529. Deaths also rose by 864, reaching a total of 68,219.

Indonesia's new COVID-19 cases are rapidly increasing due to the swift spread of the Delta variant (Indian variant). On the 24th of last month, daily new cases exceeded 20,000, followed by 30,000 on the 6th and 40,000 on the 12th, showing a gradually increasing trend.

The Indonesian government expects this rapid surge to continue only until this week and hopes the spread will ease from next week, but it is uncertain whether the increase will easily subside. Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the Minister of Finance, appeared before the parliament the day before and said, "The Emergency PPKM (Emergency Community Activity Restrictions) imposed on Java and Bali islands may be extended for 4 to 6 weeks."

The number of new COVID-19 cases in Indonesia increased by 47,899 on the 13th, setting a new record high. (Image source=Indonesian Ministry of Health)

Indonesia's daily new cases have recorded over 40,000 for two consecutive days since the previous day, surpassing India and the United Kingdom to rank first in the world for daily new case increases. According to the international statistics site Worldometer, both India and the United Kingdom still report new cases in the 30,000 range. However, the cumulative confirmed cases remain overwhelmingly high in other countries such as the United States (34.76 million), India (30.9 million), and Brazil (19.1 million).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.