Starting tomorrow, the Indonesian government will deliver free telemedicine services for COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms across the country in a bid to ease hospital pressure as cases hit record highs.

These services will be delivered in partnership with digital health platforms Alodokter and Halodoc, who will provide free teleconsultations and medication delivery, said Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikinat at a press conference.

A report noted that 75% of all hospital beds in the country were occupied as of 2 July, with the island of Java reporting over 90% capacity.

The country's health spending has also been raised to $13.39 billion for COVID-19 treatment, testing, tracing, drugs, vaccines and protective gear.

THE LARGER CONTEXT

COVID-19 cases in Indonesia continues to hit record highs over the past two weeks, largely due to the Delta variant first discovered in India. This has added nearly 300,000 cases since 21 June to a total of 2.28 million as of late, based on data from Johns Hopkins University's COVID-19 Dashboard. The daily count has also stayed over 20,000 since 26 June.

Last week, President Joko Widodo announced community restrictions from 3-20 July in the islands of Java and Bali.

ON THE RECORD

"Positive COVID-19 patients can get medical services on time without waiting in line at hospitals, so that hospitals can be prioritised for patients with medium, heavy, and critical symptoms," Minister Sadikin said.