COVID-hit Indonesia readies more ICU units

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia is preparing more intensive care units after logging several days of record-high COVID-19 deaths last week, while the country waits to see whether the government will extend or loosen tough restrictions due to expire today.

Buckling under a Delta variant-driven wave of the virus, Indonesia has become Asia’s COVID-19 epicenter with hospitals deluged, particularly on the densely populated island of Java.

“Deaths have risen due to a number of factors: full hospitals, patients admitted with low saturation, or dying unmonitored in self-isolation,” Senior Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said in a statement late on Saturday.

Luhut, who oversees the COVID response on the islands of Java and Bali, said ICU capacities would be added in areas that have reported the highest fatalities.

Bali, famous for its tourist beaches and temples, has been grappling with oxygen shortages.

Meanwhile, in Malaysia, the country’s total coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic surpassed one million yesterday after the country’s health ministry reported a record 17,045 new coronavirus cases. The total number of infections in the country stood at 1,013,438.

Indonesia last week reported record-high deaths on four separate days, the last of which was Friday’s 1,566 fatalities, bringing cumulative deaths to more than 82,000. Total case infections have climbed to over 3.1 million, though health experts say both deaths and case numbers have been undercounted.