Lenny Tristia Tambun, Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – The transmission rate of Covid-19 in Indonesia has yet to slow as the country saw 1,113 new confirmed cases on Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases to 49,009.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo admitted the country's struggle to contain the outbreak remains far from over with new hotspots emerging across the archipelago.

"The Covid-19 threat is not over yet as positive cases have continued to increase in certain regions in recent days, while several provinces also reported a high number of confirmed cases," the president said in a news conference at the State Palace in Central Jakarta.

The key to break the transmission cycle of the novel coronavirus is community behavior, making sure people follow the Covid-19 health protocol – wearing a face mask, washing hands with soap frequently, physical distancing and staying away from crowds, the president said.

"Everyone in the community should remind each other about the need to follow the health protocol. We have to continue to implement it as part of our new normal," Jokowi said.

In half of the 24 days into this month, daily Covid-19 cases stood at over 1,000, including a record 1,331 on June 18.

National Covid-19 Task Force spokesman Achmad Yurianto said there were 38 more deaths from the disease nationwide, taking the total death toll to 2,573. The number of cured or discharged Covid-19 patients grew by 417 to a total of 19,658.

That means the country still has 26,778 active cases that overwhelm hospitals in hotspots like East Java, South Sulawesi and South Kalimantan.

East Java remains the biggest contributor to the number of new cases with 183 to take its total to 10,298. It's closing in on Jakarta which has 10,404 cases, 154 more since yesterday.

South Sulawesi also saw a three-digit rise in the day, with cases jumping by 132 to 4,194.

West Java, the country's biggest province with a population of 49 million people, is at a distant fourth with 2,945 cases, followed by Central Java (2,842), South Kalimantan (2,775), South Sumatra (1,869), Papua (1,554) and Banten (1,390).

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/jokowi-says-coronavirus-battle-far-from-over-as-cases-grow-by-111