Indonesia sees Covid-19 peak of 95,000 cases in May-June – taskforce

Indonesia expects its number of coronavirus cases to peak between May and June with around 95,000 infections, a government adviser said on Thursday. Health experts had been warning that Indonesia faces a sharp rise in cases, after a slow government response masked the scale of infections.

The Southeast Asian country of more than 260 million people has recorded 5,516 cases and 496 deaths, the highest death toll in East Asia after China, Reuters reported.

“We believe the peak of the pandemic in Indonesia will start at the beginning of May and will last until the beginning of June,” said Wiku Adisasmito, a public health expert and an adviser to Indonesia’s Covid-19 taskforce.

Indonesia has performed almost 40,000 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the virus. Doni Monardo, head of the taskforce, said the government was looking to do at least 10,000 tests a day. Indonesia is also accelerating production of personal protective equipment.