Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia’s COVID-19 cases increased by 2,705 as of 12 p.m. local time on Saturday, the COVID-19 Handling Task Force reported.

According to data received from the task force by ANTARA, with the additional cases, the total number of infections reached 6,108,729.

The provinces that recorded the highest number of cases on Saturday were Jakarta, with 1,476 cases; West Java, 485 cases; Banten, 324 cases; East Java, 156 cases; and Bali, 84 cases.

Meanwhile, the task force’s data showed that 1,973 patients recovered from the virus on Saturday, taking the total number of recoveries to 5,932,089.

Indonesia also recorded 4 coronavirus deaths, which took the overall fatalities to 156,785.

The number of active cases grew by 728 compared to the previous day to reach 19,855. The number of specimens tested on Saturday was pegged at 55,044 and 3,990 people were listed in the suspected category.

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Earlier, government spokesperson for COVID-19 handling, Wiku Adisasmito, had said that the public activity restrictions (PPKM) policy will continue to be implemented to keep COVID-19 cases in the country under check.

"PPKM is a reflection of Indonesia's preparedness if at any time an emergency occurs again," he added.

The activity restrictions are tiered and range from strict enforcement to easing of restrictions.

In accordance with the directions of President Joko Widodo, the PPKM policy will continue to be implemented until COVID-19 can be fully controlled.

"We ask the public to be able to carry out the mandate, stay alert and adaptive to various changes that will occur in the future," the spokesperson stressed.

As part of efforts to boost community immunity against COVID-19, the Indonesian government launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021, targeting as many as 208,265,720 citizens across the country.

According to data provided by the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, as of July 9, 2022, as many as 201,740,862 Indonesians have received the first vaccine dose, 169,278,449 have been administered the second dose, and 51,648,769 have taken the booster dose.

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Translator: Hreeloita Dharma, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
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