In recent weeks, Indonesia has become one of the centers of the global pandemic, and the number of positive COVID-19 cases has jumped five-fold in the past five weeks. This week, the daily death toll hit a record high, with more than 1,300 people, one of the countries with the highest number of deaths in the world.

In its latest situation report, the WHO stated that strict enforcement of public health and social restrictions is crucial and called for additional “urgent actions” to address the sharp increase in the number of infections in 13 of Indonesia’s 34 provinces.

It said: “Indonesia is currently facing a very high level of transmission, which shows that the implementation of strict public health and social measures across the country, especially movement restrictions, is essential.”

Under the partial blockade in Indonesia, social restrictions such as working from home and closing shopping centers are limited to small pockets in Java and Bali and other parts of the country. Large economic sectors deemed vital or indispensable are not subject to most or part of the blockade measures.

On Tuesday, President Joko Widodo stated that the restrictions will be relaxed from next week on the grounds that official data show that the number of infections has declined in recent days. Epidemiologists said this is due to the increased testing volume. Due to a drop in the already very low level.

“If the trend of cases continues to decline, then on July 26, 2021, the government will gradually lift the restrictions,” said the well-known President Joko.

Despite the decline in the number of cases, Indonesia’s daily positive rate, or the proportion of infected people tested, averaged 30% in the past week. According to the WHO, a level higher than 20% means a “very high” transmission rate.

According to the World Health Organization, with the exception of one province in Indonesia, the positive rate in other provinces is more than 20%, and Aceh is 19%.

Luhut Pandjaitan, the senior minister in charge of the partial lockdown, said that restrictions may be relaxed in areas where transmission rates are declining, hospital capacity increases, and residents’ “social conditions” are required.

Indonesia, Myanmar and Malaysia have been showing substantial growth since late June, and their 7-day averages reached 4.37, 4.29 and 4.14 respectively on Wednesday.

Cambodia and Thailand have also seen strong increases in the number of coronavirus cases and deaths, but so far, the 7-day rate per million people has remained low at 1.55 and 1.38, respectively.

A variety of factors have contributed to the recent surge in several countries in Southeast Asia, including people being bored with the pandemic and neglecting preventive measures, low vaccination rates, and the emergence of delta variants of the virus, which was first detected in India and the Red Cross in Malaysia Said Abhishek Rimal, Emergency Health Coordinator for the Asia-Pacific Region.

“With the measures that countries are taking, if people follow the basic principles of washing hands, wearing masks, keeping distance and vaccinating, we will see a decline in the number of cases in the coming weeks,” he said.

However, so far, Malaysia’s national lockdown measures have not reduced the daily infection rate. This country with a population of approximately 32 million had the number of daily cases exceeding 10,000 for the first time on July 13, and has remained there ever since.

The vaccination rate is still very low, but it has been increasing. Now nearly 15% of the population is fully vaccinated. The government hopes that most people will be vaccinated by the end of the year.

-From Reuters and Associated Press, the last update time is 7:05 AM EST

What happened in tokyo

Watch | Dick Pound on the impact of limiting the Tokyo Olympics:

Adrienne Arsenault talked to IOC member Dick Pound about the ban on spectators and his concerns about the public’s perception of the Olympics. 4:36

As concerns about the worsening of infection during the Olympics intensified, Tokyo hit a six-month high on Thursday, the day before the start of the Olympics, with new COVID-19 cases. The 1,979 new cases on Thursday were the highest level since 2,044 were recorded on January 15.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who was determined to host the Olympics, put Tokyo in a state of emergency on July 12, but there has been a sharp increase in daily cases since then.

The emergency measures mainly include banning alcohol sales and shortening the business hours of restaurants and bars, which will last until August 22 after the end of the Olympic Games on August 8.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Japan has reported approximately 853,000 cases and 15,100 deaths, most of which are this year. Despite this, the number of cases and deaths as a proportion of the population is still far lower than in many other countries.

The Olympic Games, which were postponed for a year due to the pandemic, will begin on Friday. All venues in the Tokyo area are forbidden to enter, and a few peripheral sites allow limited audiences.

-From the Associated Press, last updated at 7 am EST

What is happening around the world

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, as of early Thursday morning, more than 192 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide. The reported death toll exceeds 4.1 million.

This America The Pan American Health Organization stated that it is facing an unvaccinated pandemic because it warned that countries with low vaccination rates are seeing an increase in COVID-19 and again called for donations of vaccines.

At the same time, US President Joe Biden (Joe Biden) said at the TV City Hall on Wednesday night that as the virus surges again, it is “very important” for Americans to step up and get vaccinated. Biden said that the public health crisis has largely turned into an unvaccinated dilemma due to the rapid increase in the number of infections across the country due to the spread of delta variants.

AfricaThe African Union COVID-19 Special Envoy said on Thursday that it is battling a severe third wave of COVID-19 infection and will begin receiving the first 400 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine next week. So far, only about 60 million doses have been vaccinated among the 1.3 billion people on this continent of 55 countries.

At the same time, Tunisian President Keith Said stated that during the COVID-19 outbreak, the military health department will take over the country’s health crisis, and the power struggle between Tunisia and the prime minister has escalated.

in Europe, Hundreds of people in Paris protested the introduction of health passes for certain events and opposed mandatory vaccination for health workers as the government tried to curb the fourth wave of COVID-19 infections in France.

The police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters who gathered in Athens on Wednesday to oppose the Greek government’s request for vaccination against the coronavirus.

inside middle EastAccording to the national news agency SPA, Saudi Arabia stated that it has banned citizens from directly or indirectly going to Indonesia due to fear of the coronavirus outbreak there.

-From the Associated Press and Reuters, the last update time is 7:15 am EST