Experts state the reason why Indonesia's Covid-19 cases have dropped sharply 5
Citra, an epidemiologist at Gadjah Mada University (UGM), said on November 22 that based on the trend of decreasing Covid-19 cases in the country over the past 3-4 months, it is likely that 80% of Indonesia’s population has been infected.
Indonesia currently records more than 4.25 million infections and nearly 144,000 deaths.
According to Citra, the decreasing trend of infections in Indonesia may be due to community immunity that has been naturally formed in the country through people with previous Covid-19 cases.
`More than 50% of current Covid-19 cases are asymptomatic, it is possible that 80% of our population has been infected with the Delta variant,` the UGM university website quoted Citra.
UGM is one of the oldest and best universities in Indonesia, also a world-class research university.
Medical staff prepare to treat Covid-19 patients at a field hospital in Jakarta, Indonesia in January. Photo: Reuters.
However, researcher Citra warns that even if the majority of people have natural antibodies, Indonesia could still suffer a third wave of Covid-19.
`Most natural infections develop antibodies against the virus strain that infects them, not against other strains. Therefore, natural immunity formed at this time may not be reliable
He added that the majority of infections and deaths in recent Covid-19 outbreaks in Indonesia have not been vaccinated against Covid-19.
According to Our World in Data, Indonesia has injected more than 224 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine, of which 89.2 million people have received the full dose, equivalent to 32.6% of the population.
The Indonesian government has not commented on Citra’s research.
The expert also supported the government’s efforts to impose level three Public Activity Restrictions (PPKM) across Indonesia during Christmas and New Year 2022. He asked the Indonesian government to seriously monitor the
