Indonesia reports record 728 virus deaths in 24 hours

Indonesia on Tuesday reported a daily record of 728 coronavirus deaths while fresh infections topped 31,000 as the Southeast Asian nation grapples with its deadliest Covid-19 wave since the pandemic began.

The official death toll spiked from 558 virus fatalities on Monday, while new cases shot up to 31,189 from 29,745 cases a day earlier, the health ministry said.

“The Delta variant has been a major blow to our health system… There is no way to get the situation under control” at current testing levels, said public health expert Hermawan Saputra.

Indonesia is suffering the worst outbreak in Southeast Asia, ahead of the hard-hit Philippines which has more than 1.4 million infections, including over 25,000 deaths.