WorlPosted at: Jun 29 2021 6:14PM

Indonesia staring at a health catastrophe’ as COVID lockdown looms

Jakarta, June 29(UNI) The Red Cross warned on Tuesday that Indonesia is “sitting on the edge of catastrophe”, as coronavirus infections fuelled by the deadlier Delta variant have surged exponentially across the country and pushing the health system towards certain collapse.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) warned that there has been an urgent increase in the need for medical care, testing and vaccinations in the Southeast Asian nation as it faces a medical emergency that is already overwhelming hospitals and threatening the supply of medical oxygen in the capital, Jakarta, and other parts of the country, Al Jazeera reported.
Indonesia on Monday reported 20,700 new cases in a single day, pushing the total since the start of the pandemic to more than 2.1 million in the country, with 423 more deaths from coronavirus taking the death toll to more than 57,500.
Adding to the problem has been the country’s slow pace of vaccination, with less than 5 percent of its 270 million population fully vaccinated till now – or about 13.1 million people, according to the health ministry. At least 27.4 million have received the first dose so far.
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