Since mid-May, Indonesia has faced a massive surge in Covid-19 infections with the number of reported positive daily cases increasing fivefold. As of the most recent update from the World Health Organisation, Indonesia has recorded more than 2.5 million positive cases since the pandemic began and almost 70,000 deaths – while the actual number is thought to be far greater due to low levels of testing and inadequate contact tracing. Hospitals in Java are reportedly stretched to the limit, with doctors treating patients in makeshift tents set up in the streets. Oxygen supplies are running short across the country.
The government has blamed the more contagious Delta variant of the virus for the upswing in case numbers, citing the shipment of goods from India as avenues for virus entry. Yet local epidemiologists argue that infection rates in Indonesia have been massively underreported – with testing reaching only 40 per 1000 people – making it impossible to pinpoint an exact sour