Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Confirmed cases of coronavirus infections in Indonesia spiked by 689 on Wednesday in yet another highest single-day rise to take the total cases to 15,438, including 1,028 deaths and 3,297 recoveries.

The daily figure beats the previous record of 533 on Saturday by a huge margin. It's also more than three times the average daily cases of 211.

National Covid-19 Task Force spokesman Achmad Yurianto said the number of probable cases at hospital also rose significantly by 845 to a total of 33,042.

He said two months after the first cases were confirmed in early March, the task force will take "firmer actions" to contain the spread of the contagious respiratory illness.

"Social restrictions are the common commitment of all of us, not just the government," he said in a daily video conference in Jakarta.

"We are committed to reducing activities that may risk further transmissions of the disease. All non-essential industries and offices outside the interests of people's basic needs, Covid-19 mitigation, healthcare, security, public order and basic economic activities should be restricted or shut temporarily. We must adapt to this new normal," he said.

Jakarta, the epicenter of the outbreak, has extended the large-scale social restrictions for another two weeks and forcedly closed many non-essential businesses who ignored the call to furlough workers or implement work-from-home policy.

The capital city has 5,375 confirmed cases or 35.98 percent of the national figure.

Neighboring Bekasi also decided to continue the social restrictions, which now entered the third phase starting on Wednesday.

East Java is the second most-affected province with 1,772 cases and a worrying mortality rate of 9.0 percent.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/daily-covid19-cases-in-indonesia-hit-new-high