Indonesia records its largest 1-day jump in COVID infections

Indonesian health authorities have announced the country’s largest one-day jump in new coronavirus infections, as the country’s number of confirmed cases since the pandemic began crosses 2 million

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesian health authorities announced the country's largest one-day jump in new coronavirus infections on Monday, as the country's number of confirmed cases since the pandemic began crossed 2 million. The Health Ministry said it had confirmed another 14,536 new infections and 294 deaths. Along with the more than 2 million infections, Indonesia has reported more than 54,950 deaths, both the most in Southeast Asia. Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, has seen infections surge in recent weeks, a climb that has been blamed on travel during last month’s Eid al-Fitr holiday as well as the arrival of new virus variants, such as the the Delta version first found in India. The surge is putting pressure on hospitals like those in Jakarta — where 80% of hospital beds are full — and has added urgency to the government's plans to be inoculating 1 million people each day by next month. Authorities have so far only fully vaccinated 12.3 million of Indonesia's 270 million people and partially vaccinated another 10.9 million others.