This Week, Deputy Minister Of Health Dante Saksono Predicts That COVID-19 Cases Will Exceed The Peak Wave

JAKARTA - Deputy Minister of Health Dante Saksono Harbuwono estimates that the cases of the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants in Indonesia will surpass the peak wave this week.

"Hopefully in the future cases will decline and not be high anymore, because the increase in BA.4 and BA.5 cases is a third of an Omicron," said Dante Saksono Harbuwono as quoted by Antara, Jakarta, Friday, July 18.

As is known, the Ministry of Health predicts the peak of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia at around 20,000 cases per day which occurs in the second to fourth week of July 2022.

Based on data from the Ministry of Health, as many as 81 percent of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia are Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants.

Dante said the peak of the wave of cases was predicted to occur on Saturday, July 16. Active cases on that day increased by 1,621 cases, bringing the total to 26,594 cases, while the rate of confirmed positive cases increased by 4,329 patients.

That number has doubled since the end of June 2022, when it reached 2,000 cases per day. On Sunday, July 17, the rate of active cases decreased to 956 cases, bringing the total to 27,550 cases with a positive confirmed case rate of 3,540 patients.

"All slides have increased, but are still in the 10 percent condition from the highest case last month. We estimate that it has reached its peak," he said.

Dante said the highest cases were currently peaking in DKI Jakarta Province with the transmission rate or transmission of COVID-19 having reached Level 3, while overall transmission for Indonesia was still at Level 1.

"Hopefully Jakarta will soon be sloping down, although the cases are still increasing, but the increase will be small," he said.