Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Sunday that COVID-19 restrictions would be extended from July 26 to August 2, though he said infections and hospital bed occupancy rates in some provinces in Java had declined.
Under the current curbs, he said the government would gradually adjust some restrictions on “some activities”, while allowing traditional markets and restaurants with outdoor areas to open with some limitations.
Indonesia is suffering a devastating wave of coronavirus infections, driven by the Delta variant.
The impact of the outbreak has been brutal in Indonesia, with stories of people desperately trying to find hospital beds, oxygen and medicine for loved ones. The country’s COVID-19 death toll has broken records four times this week, the latest on Friday with 1 566 deaths.
Indonesia’s death rate is currently three times higher than the global average, according to Our World in Data, while nearly 2 500 people have died in isolation or outside hospitals since June, said independent data initiative, Lapor COVID-19.
Social restrictions in place since July 3 such as working from home and closed shopping malls are currently limited to the islands of Java and Bali and other designated ‘red zones’ across the country.
