Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Indonesia reported 330 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours on Saturday, the second highest rise in a day, to bring the total cases to 3,842.

The alarming pace is exacerbated by the fact that fatalities continue to beat the number of patients recovering from the infectious illness, as 21 patients died to the total death toll of 327.

On the other hand, only four patients recovered on Saturday and accumulatively only 286 patients across the country have been discharged from hospitals.

"The disease continues to spread due to a lack of discipline among the people to observe physical distancing, to wear face masks and to wash their hands more often," the government's Covid-19 Task Force spokesman Achmad Yurianto said in a video conference in Jakarta.

The country of more than 272 million people is also lacking of extensive tests, with Achmad saying only close to 20,000 tests have been conducted so far.

Achmad also warned of another imminent threat to public health namely the seasonal dengue fever outbreak as summer is arriving.

The outbreak has now affected all 34 provinces across the archipelago, after Gorontalo in the northern part of Sulawesi island reported its first confirmed case on Thursday.

Jakarta, the epicenter of the Indonesian outbreak, has 1,984 confirmed cases as of Saturday, more that 50 percent of the national tally.

South Sulawesi has 178 cases, the highest outside provinces on most-densely-populated Java island. It even has more cases than Central Java, which reported 144 confirmed cases.

A Muslim pilgrimage involving hundreds of people including foreigners in Gowa several weeks ago is believed to be the source of local transmission in South Sulawesi, where most patients were linked to the gathering.

Youngest patient

Meanwhile, a 1-week-old baby in Cianjur, West Java, was treated as a Covid-19 patient and placed under isolation for developing related symptoms. She may become the country's youngest Covid-19 patient if a subsequent test comes back positive. The baby allegedly caught the disease from her mother, who died shortly after giving birth to twins.

"The baby girl developed the symptoms and she allegedly contracted the disease from her mother, a resident in Cijati sub-district who died after a rapid test indicated that she was positive of Covid-19," local health official Yusman Faisal told Antara news agency.

The baby's twin died during the delivery, Yusman said. The baby is being treated at a hospital in the provincial capital, Bandung.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/indonesia-reports-330-new-cases-as-covid19-outbreak-yet-to-slow