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 The world's fourth-most-populous country has recorded 1,012,350
cases, with the average daily increase running above 11,000 for more
than a week, according to official data.
Its deaths from the respiratory disease now total 28,468.
Those figures are among the highest in Asia and almost double the
number of infections as its neighbour the Philippines, which up
until October was reporting more cases than Indonesia.
Health experts believe the true spread of the virus in Indonesia
could be three times higher.
Authorities have been criticised for low testing and tracing rates,
and for focusing vaccines at the expense of better enforcing health
protocols, which are less strict than in most countries.
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said improvements would be made
in containing the virus and urged the public to follow regulations.
"We need to flatten the curve ... so our health facilities don't
have too much burden and thus we could have more time to respond to
this virus," he told a news conference.
The government started its mass vaccination programme earlier this
month and tightened movement restrictions, as hospitals come under
increasing strain, with dozens of people turned away from facilities
in Jakarta at full capacity.
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 Social restrictions, which
include shortened hours for malls and
restaurants in Java and Bali, will run until
Feb. 8, as will while entry restrictions on most
foreign visitors.
Student Muhaimin Zega, 20, called on the
government to issue clearer regulations, while
42-year-old Jakarta resident Sabriyanti said
rules needed to be more stringent.
"The government should be stricter because we
still can see crowds and those who don't wear
masks," said Sabriyanti, who uses only one name.
Others in the world's largest Muslim-majority
nation have chosen to put their faith in
quelling the virus elsewhere.
"If we believe that COVID will attack it will,"
said Taufik Hidayat, 49, a private sector
worker.
"But if we are sure that COVID will not attack
and we surrender to God, we will definitely not
get it."
(Additional reporting by Maikel Jefriando;
Reporting by Yuddy Cahya Budiman, Gayatri Suroyo,
and Stanley Widianto; Editing by Stephen Coates,
Martin Petty)
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