Indonesia reports record number of Covid cases

The number of daily infections topped 57,000, according to the government's Covid-19 taskforce.

Indonesia reported a record number of new coronavirus cases on Tuesday as the Omicron variant spreads across the Southeast Asian archipelago.

The number of daily infections topped 57,000, according to the government's Covid-19 taskforce, surpassing the previous peak of 56,757 cases recorded in July last year during the country's Delta wave.

"The national figure for positive cases in this third wave increased sharply and faster compared to the second wave," taskforce spokesman Wiku Adisasmito told a press briefing.

But the death rate is far lower than during the Delta surge when Indonesia reported around 2,000 fatalities a day.