The Delta variant of the coronavirus, which has been a source of concern in Indonesia amid the national caseload spike, has yet to be detected in Bali so far, according to the province’s chief health official.
“Periodically, COVID-19 referral hospitals in Bali send samples to the Research and Development Agency (Litbang). But until now we have yet to receive information about the discovery of the Delta variant [in Bali],” Ketut Suarjaya, Bali Health Agency Chief, said yesterday.
Though Bali’s numbers are lower than other Indonesian regions, the province has also been reporting a spike in cases for the last two weeks. After about a month of reporting less than 100 new daily cases, the daily infections count has risen to the triple digits since June 19. There are over 50,000 cases in Bali as of June 30, following 221 new reported cases yesterday.
The Secretary to the Bali administration, Dewa Made Indra, claims that COVID-19 handling in Bali is still under control. He is optimistic that Bali will reach herd immunity for its population of 4.3 million soon.
“It’s a relief that there is no pressure on our hospital capacity until now,” Indra said, alluding to high bed occupancy rates in other regions, such as Jakarta and Central Java.
According to official Health Ministry data, over 745,000 people are now fully inoculated in Bali, while more than 2.2 million have received their first COVID jab.
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