Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Indonesia is working hard to contain the spread of coronavirus in three key battlegrounds – East Java, Jakarta, and South Sulawesi – but cases continue to rise there at a speed faster than in other province.

The country added 1,591 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, taking its total to 78,572. Combined cases from the three provinces alone accounted for 51 percent of the daily figure.

East Java was the biggest contributor with 353 new cases and it now has a total of 17,230 cases, including 1,247 deaths.

The province was hit badly by the virus because, among other reasons, 70 percent of residents refuse to wear face masks while in public, President Joko Widodo revealed last month, citing a survey result.

Covid-19 cases in Jakarta topped 15,000 after it added 268 more cases, but the capital city has relatively low mortality rate compared to East Java. As of Tuesday, 697 Covid-19 patients have died in Jakarta.

South Sulawesi recorded 197 new cases to take its total to 7,294.

While West Java and Central Java managed to reduce daily infections to two-digit figures, cases are surging in South Kalimantan, which has registered a total of 4,379 cases.

South Kalimantan and South Sulawesi are the only provinces outside the most densely-populated island of Java to join the top six provinces with the most Covid-19 cases.

North Sumatra and Bali have emerged as new hotspots since late June and both have accumulated more than 2,300 cases each as of Tuesday.

The death toll from coronavirus stood at 3,710 nationwide, 54 more from yesterday. It's the 11th day in a row daily Covid-19 deaths topped 50.

The number of recovered Covid-19 patients increased by 947 to 37,636, or 47.9 percent of the overall cases.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/covid19-transmission-yet-to-slow-in-three-worsthit-provinces