|
|
The COVID-19 Delta variant—known as B.1.617.2—has been blamed for the increase in virus cases in Indonesia, forcing the government in Jakarta to hold off on easing restrictions.
The Wall Street Journal reported that there is no specific number on how many cases are tied to the variant, but one epidemiologist told the paper that the country could be the next to get hit with a “tsunami” of cases.
The country has been absorbing about 10,000 new cases each day, but a third of those given a PCR test have tested positive, which health officials say is evidence that the virus is far more widespread than thought.
The paper said less than 5 percent of the country’s 270 million have been fully vaccinated, and China’s Sinovac has been its largest supplier. The Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines have proven effective in preventing disease, but the paper pointed out that the studies did not include the Chinese offering.
Reuters reported that more than 350 doctors and medical staff came down with the virus in the country after having already received the Chinese jab. Some of the medical workers have been hospitalized.
“The data shows they have the Delta variant so it is no surprise that the breakthrough infection is higher than before,” Dicky Budman, an epidemiologist at Australia’s Griffith Univerisity said. “Because, as we know, the majority of health care workers in Indonesia got Sinovac, and we still don’t know yet how effective it is in the real world against the Delta variant.”
The current wave is being blamed, in part, on the celebrations during the Muslim holiday Eid last month.