Daily Covid-19 Tally Lowest in 14 Months

Jakarta. Indonesia on Monday recorded the lowest daily tally of newly Covid-19 cases since July 14 of last year as the country slowly begins to ease restrictions and open door to international visitors.

Data from the Health Ministry reveal 1,390 new infections in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 4,209,403.

A further 118 coronavirus-related deaths have been recorded in the one-day period to take the total death toll to 141,585.

Central and East Java have the highest death toll in the Indonesian outbreak, each registering more than 29,000 Covid-19 deaths since the pandemic began.

The total number of active cases stands at 40,270, a 92 percent decrease from the peak on July 24.

Chief Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said the government has allowed international arrivals at a few entry gates. Foreign visitors must show proof of full vaccination, undergo diagnostic tests and spend eight days in quarantine.

“We especially restrict visitors from high-risk countries such as the United States and Turkey,” said Luhut, who is in charge of government’s Covid-19 response.

Another 1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine were delivered in the day. More than 49 million Indonesian citizens, or 23 percent of target population, have been fully vaccinated since the campaign began on January 13. 

Jakarta has the best vaccination rate among all 34 provinces, with 90 percent of population in the national capital fully vaccinated. The resort island of Bali comes second at 70 percent.

However, the vaccination rate in 29 other provinces is still below the national average of 21.6 percent.