Indonesia reports 855 new Covid cases

Jakarta, Jan 17 (IANS) Indonesia on Sunday confirmed 855 new Covid-19 cases, raising the country's tally to 4,271,649, according to the country's health ministry.

The ministry also reported three more deaths, bringing the death toll to 144,170, and 710 recovered during the past 24 hours, bringing the total recoveries to 4,118,874, Xinhua news agency reported.

The government has decided to evaluate its four-tiered Covid-19 restrictions every week instead of every two weeks as the Omicron variant is spreading in the archipelagic country, Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has said at a virtual press conference.

There was no report of deaths in the country due to the variant, he said, suggesting that companies apply a work-from-home policy for two weeks.

As the Indonesian government is accelerating its national vaccination programs to curb the spread of the virus, more than 176.30 million people have received their first doses of vaccines, while over 119.74 million have taken the second doses.

Aiming to fully vaccinate 208.2 million people in the country, the Indonesian government has administered over 297.38 million doses, including the third booster jabs.