Indonesia on “the edge of catastrophe”

The Red Cross is appealing for urgent medical supplies and vaccines as Indonesia spirals into crisis

Indonesia is battling a huge surge in Covid-19 infections. Hospitals have reached breaking point, with infections skyrocketing throughout the archipelago.

On Friday, medical officials in the province of West Java said bed occupancy rates in hospitals had exceeded 90 per cent. Some hospitals have exceeded 100 per cent capacity, pushing the health system “close to collapse”.

The nation is recording more than 20,000 cases per day in what is a grim record number of infections. This brings the total rate of infections since the start of the pandemic to 2.1 million. The county’s death toll is sitting at close to 58,000 people.

However, the Red Cross has suggested that the actual number of people who are sick and infected is likely to be far higher.

The Red Cross is calling for urgent increases in medical care, testing and vaccinations 

“Every day we are seeing this Delta variant driving Indonesia closer to the edge of a COVID-19 catastrophe,” Jan Gelfand, head of the IFRC in Indonesia said in a statement.

“We need lightning-fast action globally so that countries like Indonesia have access to the vaccines needed to avert tens of thousands of deaths. We must focus on getting vaccinations into the arms of those most at-risk and all adults everywhere to contain this virus.”

Under 5 per cent of Indonesia’s adult population has been fully vaccinated

Indonesia needs another 360 million doses to vaccinate at least 70 per cent of the population. At least 27.4 million have received the first dose.

The IFRC says Indonesia faces global vaccine inequity as a hurdle to securing the 360 million doses it needs to vaccinate at least 70 percent of its population.