Heru Andriyanto, Dina Manafe, Jakarta – Indonesia reported 1,385 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday to equal the highest single-day rise four days ago, taking the country's total to 57,770.

During the 24-hour period, 58 more Covid-19 patients have died, bringing the total death toll to 2,934, according to the National Covid-19 Task Force.

Daily Covid-19 deaths set a new high of 71 on Tuesday.

The number of cured Covid-19 patients rose significantly by 789 to a total of 25,595 recoveries. However, the country still has 29,241 active cases or 50.6 percent of confirmed cases overall.

Jakarta has 271 new cases, more than any other provinces in the day, to take its total to 11,637.

Earlier in the day, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan decided to extend the so-called "transition period" until July 16 before the capital can fully reopen, saying community transmission in the city of 11 million people remained to occur.

During the transition from the large-scale social restrictions imposed in the wake of the outbreak, schools will remain close and non-essential business premises should operate at 50 percent of their capacity.

Worst-hit East Java registered 185 more cases to a total of 12,321, including 926 deaths and 4,199 recoveries. East Java surpassed Jakarta as the most-affected province last Friday.

The worrying trend in Central Java continued on Wednesday with 173 more cases, taking the province's total to 4,006. The rate of transmission in Central Java picked up the pace in mid-June and its total cases surpassed those of West Java in the fourth place last week.

Dewi Nur Aisyah, an epidemiologist with the task force, admitted that the ratio of positive cases to the number of testing is still nowhere near the level required by the World Health Organization.

The current positivity rate is 12 percent, down slightly from 13 percent in mid-May, Dewi said.

The WHO required positivity rate of 5 percent or lower to determine if the transmission rate is slowing down, she said in a video conference in Jakarta.

"The more we carry out mass testing, the lower the positivity rate we are going to have," Dewi said. Indonesia's testing capacity now stands at between 15,000 and 20,000 per day.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/indonesia-sees-recordequaling-rise-in-covid19-cases