"Nationally, there has been an 18-percent decrease in confirmed cases compared to the previous week. However, there is more than one variant (of COVID-19) found in each province," Health Ministry's COVID-19 vaccinations spokesperson Siti Nadia Tarmizi said in a virtual press statement, monitored from here on Friday.
She said five provinces have seen a 20-percent increase in cases in the past week -- East Nusa Tenggara, Central Sulawesi, Aceh, Gorontalo, and Bangka Belitung.
Meanwhile, a significant decline in cases in Jakarta and West Java has significantly affected the national COVID-19 tally, she observed.
The spokesperson said that testing rates and positivity rates are indicators that cannot be separated.
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Testing rates, nationally, currently stand at 3.53 per 1,000 population per week with weekly positivity rates pegged at 23.6 percent, she informed.
"Although we see a trend of positivity rates continuing to decline from the beginning of July 2021 at 30.1 percent and now it has reached 22.5 percent; however, transmission is still high and occurs in all regions," she said.
Tarmizi said that Aceh, Lampung, Central Java, Southeast Sulawesi, West Sulawesi, and Maluku provinces have not yet reached the testing target.
She advised all regions to improve and maintain testing, especially for suspected and close contact cases.
The first case of COVID-19 in Indonesia was confirmed in March 2020. According to data from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), 3,804,943 people have been confirmed positive for COVID-19 in the country as of August 13, 2021.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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