Regions Outside Java, Bali Report Rising COVID-19 Cases

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto delivers press statement after joining a limited meeting on the evaluation on public activity restrictions (PPKM) through video conference, Sunday (02/27). (Photo by: PR/ Jay)

The number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in regions outside the islands of Java and Bali has shown an increasing trend with 183,448 cases.

Nevertheless, bed occupancy rate (BOR) at hospitals and centers for isolation in those regions is still under control.

“In general, the BOR reached 30 percent in regions outside Java and Bali. It’s still under the national average rate of 36 percent,” Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said in his press statement after joining a limited meeting on the evaluation on public activity restrictions (PPKM) through video conference, Sunday (02/27).

The Minister added that the BOR in three provinces with highest active cases outside Java and Bali is still normal indicated by a low proportion in number of hospital beds specifically converted to treat COVID-19 patients.

For the record, the number of active cases in North Sumatra province is 23,563 with 35 percent of BOR and 20 percent of bed conversion rate.

In addition, 19,573 cases are recorded in East Kalimantan province with 41 percent of BOR and 24 percent of bed conversion rate, and 18,954 cases are recorded in South Sulawesi province with 29 percent of BOR and 23 percent of bed conversion rate.

“Islands with the highest effective reproductive number (Rt) outside Java and Bali are Sulawesi (1.19), Sumatra (1.17), and Kalimantan (1.17),” he said.

The Minister went on to say that a number of provinces have passed the peak and have been showing declining trends thereafter, such as the provinces of Papua, South Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, and South Sumatra.

However, the provinces of North Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Lampung, East Kalimantan, Riau Islands, West Sumatra, and Riau have seen increasing trend in COVID-19 daily cases; yet BOR in all those provinces is still considered lower than that of Delta variant.

In terms of centers for isolation, 35,276 beds in regions outside the islands of Java and Bali are available in which 2,983 beds are occupied. Nonetheless, the Government has ordered regional heads to increase the number of beds capacity by 2-3 times to anticipate surge in cases.

On that occasion, Airlangga also underscored that the Government continues to monitor the latest development of COVID-19 cases to make responsive policies and to take measures to mitigate and control the situation. (TGH/UN) (RAS/EP)