Indonesia finds new COVID-19 cluster after treatment of infected Filipino ship crew

JAKARTA - Indonesia reported a new cluster of 42 coronavirus infections among medical workers who treated 13 Filipino ship crew who were sick with COVID-19, and is tracing dozens of others, a government official said on Sunday.

About 140 other medical workers came into close contact with the crew of the Panamanian-flagged cargo ship Hilma Bulker, who tested positive for the new coronavirus after docking in Central Java on April 25, the province's governor, Ganjar Pranowo, told Reuters. The vessel had come from India.

Genome sequencing showed the crew had the highly infectious B.1617.2 variant first identified in India, Ganjar said, adding that one of them had later died in hospital.

"For now we're actively tracing their nurses. Hundreds had had direct contact, close contact, and 42 had tested positive," Ganjar said by phone.

With more than 1.7 million confirmed cases and 49,000 deaths, Indonesia is the worst-hit country in Southeast Asia.

Its COVID-19 crisis is not as bad as that seen in India, but some health experts are concerned mass gatherings at this month's Eid al-Fitr celebrations and virus variants could trigger a surge of new cases in the world's fourth-most populous nation.

Last month Indonesia stopped issuing visas for foreigners who had recently been in India.

Ganjar said all other crew members of the Hilma Bulker had self-quarantined on the ship, and 49 Indonesian officials who oversaw the unloading of the ship had all tested negative for the virus.

The vessel had delivered refined sugar from India, Ganjar said. It left Indonesia this month headed to Manila, according to Refinitiv Eikon's vessel tracker. 

-reuters-

Jokowi says Indonesia virus outbreak expected to peak in Aug-Sept

Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said Monday that the new coronavirus outbreak in his country is expected to peak in August or September, three or four months later than earlier estimated.

"Taking a look at data, the peak is estimated in August or September, that's the latest estimate," Jokowi was quoted as saying in local media reports.

"But if we don't do something, the numbers can be different (and) therefore, I asked my ministers to work hard," he added.

The president had earlier predicted that the virus outbreak would peak by the end of May and flatten by this month. Based on that projection, the government relaxed its large-scale social restrictions.

A few weeks after the restrictions were eased, however, the numbers of confirmed coronavirus infections in the country have continued to rise without any sign of leveling off.

Last Thursday, the daily tally of new confirmed cases hit a record at 2,657.

On Monday, Indonesia reported 1,282 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, bringing the total up to 76,981 infections with 3,656 fatalities.

-Kyodo News-

Soldiers, police enforce Indonesia's "new normal" coronavirus restrictions

JAKARTA - Indonesia's military ordered the deployment of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and police on Monday to enforce rules on wearing masks and safe distancing after reports of people in the world's fourth-most populous nation flouting them.

Even as cases of the coronavirus have continued to spike in the Southeast Asian nation, now reaching nearly 23,000 infections and 1,391 deaths, people have often been seen ignoring measures to stop the spread of the pandemic.

From Monday, about 340,000 officers will be deployed across four provinces to ensure the country’s transition to the "new normal", Indonesian military chief Hadi Tjahjanto said Monday.

The presidential task force on fighting COVID-19 has said the country needs to move to a "new normal" of wearing masks, social distancing and good hand hygiene to combat the disease.

"We will monitor people to ensure people are wearing masks, and are also maintaining a safe distance from others," said Hadi. "What we want is that people can do their activities, and at the same time stay safe from COVID-19."

Malls with a capacity of 1,000 people, he said, would only be permitted to allow 500 people inside.

Officers will be deployed on streets and at malls and other strategic locations in the provinces of Jakarta, West Java, Gorontalo and West Sumatra, in a joint operation between the Indonesian military, police and local government, Hadi said.

The announcement comes days after people flocked to local markets in the capital and its surrounds, many unmasked, buying new clothes for Eid, the celebration at the end of the Islamic fasting month.

Earlier this month, a crowd at a Jakarta airport also caused a stir on social media, with people criticizing their fellow citizens for endangering the lives of frontline healthcare workers by not taking basic precautions.

Indonesia has come under fire from public health experts since March for its belated response to the novel coronavirus, while in recent weeks a string of regulatory backflips around social restrictions, work and travel has resulted in widespread confusion. 

(Reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa; Writing by Kate Lamb; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

-reuters-

Burial numbers in Indonesia indicate coronavirus toll is higher than official tally

JAKARTA - Burials in Jakarta remained close to record highs in April, official data showed on Friday, indicating there may have been many more deaths from COVID-19 in the city than have been officially recorded.

The 4,377 burials, combined with 4,422 burials in March, indicate that 2,500 more people have died in the city in the past two months than the average for the period.

The burials data, from the website of the city's parks and cemeteries department, does not identify the cause of death.

Jakarta is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the world's fourth most populous country. According to the central government, there had been 375 COVID-19 deaths in the capital as of Saturday.

Overall, Indonesia has had 800 deaths from the disease, Health Ministry official Achmad Yurianto said on Friday.

Asked about the Jakarta burial figures, Yurianto told Reuters that official figures for coronavirus deaths included only those who died after testing positive for the disease.

Some people who died with COVID-19 symptoms were not tested at all, while others had their samples collected "incorrectly", Yurianto said. He did not elaborate on what the incorrect samples meant.

The March burial figure for Jakarta was the highest since such data began being collected a decade ago, nearly one third higher than any month in that period. City Governor Anies Baswedan told Reuters at the time: "I'm struggling to find another reason than unreported COVID-19 deaths."

Baswedan could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday.

The April burials figure fell only slightly although many people left the city for their home villages in the first three weeks of the month.

A spokesman for the Jakarta provincial government declined to answer questions about the burials data and the number of people who had left the city.

"We don't have daily data to get a precise trend. However, deducting for out-migration, it's not slowing down yet," said one Jakarta-based epidemiologist, who asked not to be identified.

Authorities introduced a soft lockdown on Jakarta in March, closing schools and some businesses. On April 24 travel out of the city was strictly banned in an effort to stop more people leaving for the annual post-Ramadan exodus from Greater Jakarta.

Indonesia has had 10,551 confirmed cases of the illness, the Health Ministry's Yurianto said on Friday.

A Reuters review of data from 16 of Indonesia's 34 provinces showed this week that more than 2,200 people have died with acute symptoms of COVID-19 but were not recorded as victims of the disease.

-reuters-

Indonesia bans traditional Ramadan exodus to rein in coronavirus

JAKARTA - Indonesia will ban its traditional annual exodus by people streaming out of cities at the end of the Muslim fasting month in May, as the Southeast Asian nation looks to curb the spread of coronavirus, President Joko Widodo said on Tuesday.

Indonesia's tally of 590 virus deaths is the highest in East Asia after China, but Widodo had previously resisted a ban, seeking instead to persuade people to stay put.

But health experts had warned that allowing millions in the world's biggest Muslim-majority country to travel to their home villages after Ramadan could hasten the spread of the disease.

"I have taken the decision that we will ban 'mudik,'" Widodo told a cabinet meeting, using the Indonesian term for the journey. "That is why the relevant preparation needs to be done."

He cited a survey by the transport ministry that showed 24% of the archipelago's population of more than 260 million were insisting on joining the exodus after Ramadan.

Last year, about 19.5 million people in the archipelago made the journey, the government says, and Widodo added that 7% of Indonesians had already set out this year.

The world's fourth most populous country has recorded 6,760 virus infections for southeast Asia's second highest tally after the neighboring city state of Singapore, though some estimates put the figure far higher.

In a study last week, researchers at the University of Indonesia's public health faculty warned that if the exodus home were permitted, it could lead to a million infections by July on Java, the most populous island, home to Jakarta, the capital.

Without the exodus, that figure could be cut to 750,000 cases, the researchers said.

-reuters-