Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Indonesia reported 1,043 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus on Tuesday, the highest rise in a day since the first cases were detected in the country in early March.

It's also the first time the single-day case rise in the country hit the 1,000 mark.

The new high brought the number of total cases to 33,076. The National Covid-19 Task Force said 40 more coronavirus patients died in the 24-hour period to take the total death toll to 1,923.

The number of recovered patients accounted for more than a third of total cases, totaling 11,414 as of Tuesday.

Jakarta, which has been past its peak since mid-May, saw 232 more cases on Tuesday, the capital city's highest single-day rise.

The Jakarta Health Department attributed the surge to delayed testing works during the weekend, which triggered a higher number of new cases when the results finally came on Tuesday.

"The significant increase in today's cases is due to delayed testing at private labs on Saturday and Sunday. Many specimens were taken for tests on Monday and the results were delivered today," Ani Ruspitawati, the head of the department's public health division, said in a video conference.

Jakarta has 8,355 coronavirus cases overall, including 533 deaths and 3,371 recovered patients.

East Java, the current epicenter of the Indonesian outbreak, reported 220 new cases to bring the province's total to 6,533.

Sulawesi was the third province to report a three-digit figure in the day with 180 cases. Combined cases from the three provinces made up of 60 percent of today's case tally.

The spread of Covid-19 has been gaining pace in Indonesia since early this month. Nine days into this month, the archipelago has reported a total of 6,560 cases, compared to only 3,527 cases in the same period in May.

Several provinces have emerged as new hotspots including East Java, South Sulawesi, South Kalimantan and South Sumatra.

East Java in particular has become a major contributor to soaring coronavirus cases in recent weeks, with a staggering 334 percent increase between May 10 and today.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/indonesias-daily-coronavirus-cases-surpass-1000-for-first-time