Crossing the daily count of COVID-19 cases of India and Brazil, Indonesia has become the new global coronavirus base. As the island country is struggling with the increasing number of COVID-19 infections, hundreds of children in Indonesia have died because of the coronavirus in recent weeks. Reports even suggest that many of the children who lost their lives to the COVID-19 infections were even younger than 5.
The number of COVID-19 infections and deaths among children in Indonesia has risen sharply over this month. It is being reported that the sudden increase in the number of coronavirus cases is the result of the surge of delta variant. With Indonesia reporting increased cases among children, it is now the time to believe that children are no longer safe from the deadly infection.
According to the official report, Indonesia reported nearly 50,000 new infections and 1,566 deaths among the entire population last Friday.
Delta variant which was first identified in India has now swept its way to other countries as well. Apart from Indonesia, the delta variant has also wreaked havoc on countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam where the vaccination rate is low.
As per the reports from the paediatricians, children now make up 12.5 percent of the country’s confirmed cases. Also, more than 150 children had lost their lives due to COVID-19 during the mid-week of July alone, while half the recent deaths involve children below the age of 5.
Other than the recent increase in the COVID infected cases, more than 800 children in Indonesia below the age of 18 years have died since the pandemic arrived. But it is important to note that the majority of deaths among children have occurred in the past month.
Indonesia’s Vaccination Rate:
The slow vaccination drive of the country is also being considered as one of the reasons behind hundreds of children dying due to the deadly virus. As per the records, only 16 percent of the Indonesians have received one dose of vaccine, while just 6 percent population have been fully vaccinated against the virus.
Apart from this, like many other countries, Indonesia has also not vaccinated children below 12 years. But looking at the current situation and increasing number of COVID cases, the country recently began vaccinating children belonging to the age group 12-18 years.