Indonesia reports 261 new COVID-19 cases, 17 deaths

Indonesia on Tuesday confirmed 261 new COVID-19 cases, raising its tally of infections to 4,258,076, according to the country's Health Ministry.

The death toll from the virus in the country rose by 17 to 143,893, while 420 more people recovered during the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 4,108,717.

The Indonesian government, which is imposing four-tiered restrictions on public activities locally abbreviated as PPKM, has cancelled its plan to impose PPKM Level 3 during the upcoming holidays, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The decision on choosing which level of PPKM during the holidays is in accordance with the current assessment of the pandemic situation with some tightening," he added.

The government aims to vaccinate 208.2 million people in the country.

Indonesia started its mass COVID-19 vaccinations on Jan. 13 after the authorities approved the emergency use of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine.

More than 143.29 million people have received their first doses of vaccines, while over 99.82 million have taken the second doses.

The country has so far administered over 244.36 million doses, including the third booster jabs. (ANI/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )