COVID-19 Task Force: There Is An Increasing Trend Of Deaths Due To COVID-19

JAKARTA - Government Spokesperson for Handling COVID-19 Wiku Adisasmito said the trend of deaths due to COVID-19 began to increase, although it was lower than during the second wave of pandemic transmission.

Wiku said the addition of positive cases nationwide in the current third wave jumped sharply faster than the second wave.

"This increase in positive cases also has an impact on the trend of deaths, which are currently increasing. The good news is that the increase during the third spike was much lower than during the second spike," he said, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, February 15.

The Coordinator of the Expert Team for the Task Force for Handling COVID-19, explained that last week there were 505 people who died, while during the spike due to the transmission of the Delta variant, more than 12,000 people died.

The number of increases per week last week almost reached the amount during the second peak in the period of transmission of the Delta variant.

He said there was an increase of around 291,000 cases of COVID-19 last week, when there was an increase due to Omicron, compared to an increase of 350,000 cases when the peak of transmission due to Delta occurred last year.

There was also a trend of increasing hospital bed occupancy, although it was still lower than the peak during the second wave. The national occupancy rate is currently 32.85 percent, compared to 77.32 percent which was a record high when the spread of the Delta variant reached its peak.

Despite having a lower death toll, Wiku still reminded the importance of continuing to suppress the addition of cases, especially to avoid vulnerable groups from contracting COVID-19.

"Preventing from getting infected is the best way to save lives, especially those around us who are elderly, have comorbidities and cannot or have not been vaccinated," said Wiku.