Experts Say Indonesia Faces Large Surge in Coronavirus Cases
CORONAVIRUS – Health experts said Indonesia likely faces a huge surge in coronavirus cases after their government’s woeful response.
China’s Health Ministry said Wuhan, the city in China where the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 was first detected, reported no new cases on March 18, 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) said the recovery of the city gave hope to the rest of the world.
However, Indonesia just started seeing the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic this month. Health experts said the world’s most populous country will likely face a large surge amid crisis.
Based on a report from GMA News. Health experts said Indonesia will have a hard time recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic due to the slow response of their government. On Friday, the country’s capital, Jakarta, declared a state of emergency.
Less than 3 weeks after it’s first COVID-19 case, the country had 369 confirmed cases and 32 deaths. Indonesia’s capital has 215 confirmed cases and 18 deaths.
According to the report, the director of the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland, Professor Ian Henderson, said the coronavirus cases in Indonesia will increase due to their weak healthcare system. The 260 million people will be very vulnerable amid the outbreak.
“Indonesia is likely to have many more cases than currently reported… Without large-scale testing, contact tracing, and quarantine measures, the opportunity for spread of this virus is great,” said Henderson.
Based on the report, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo said they have added laboratories to conduct testings. He said he will use “all state power” to combat the deadly virus.
What can you say about this article? Leave your comments and reactions below.
READ ALSO: 627 Die In A Single Day In Italy With Almost 6,000 Additional Cases