Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – New confirmed cases of coronavirus in Indonesia jumped by 3,635 on Thursday to take its total to 232,628, as Riau province in the center of Sumatra Island added speed to the country's already escalating caseloads driven mainly by four worst-hit provinces in Java.

Indonesia has been averaging 3,402 cases since Sept. 1 after Jakarta began to report four-digit daily total and several provinces, most notably Riau, emerged as new hotspots.

Riau, with a population of around 7 million, has added more than 2,600 cases month-to-date. Only the four worst affected and most populous provinces on Java Island can beat those new caseloads.

Riau had less than 1,000 cases last month, but now it has reported a total of 4,462 cases. Its daily rise also reached a new high of 225 cases on Thursday.

The provincial Health Department has declared six districts and cities as red zones – where newly cases are rampant. The six include provincial capital Pekanbaru, Dumai, Pelalawan, Kuantan Singingi, Siak and Kampar.

Big four

Jakarta has recorded 1,113 new cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 58,582, including 1,495 deaths. It has added around 18,500 cases month-to-date, averaging 1,088 cases per day. By comparison, Jakarta's daily average in August was 603 cases.

East Java reported 29 more Covid-19 deaths on Thursday, the highest daily death toll of the day, for a total of 2,896. It added 327 new confirmed cases of the virus to take its total to 39,508.

Central Java registered 293 more cases for a total of 18,744, including 1,195 deaths. Both East Java and Central Java have the highest fatality rate nationwide in proportion to their total cases.

West Java saw the highest daily rise in almost two weeks, with 353 new cases for a total of 15,584.

Resurgence in South Sulawesi

South Sulawesi, which has the biggest number of cases after the four provinces in Java, has seen resurgence since last week.

South Sulawesi averaged 82 cases in August, indicating initial success in containing the outbreak which allowed West Java to overtake the ranking on Sept. 7. But the daily average figure has now surged to 111 month-to-date, taking its tally to 13,867.

Other hotspots like North Sumatra, Bali and East Kalimantan have shown a relatively equal pace in new cases throughout the month, averaging around 130 cases each per day.

The total number of Covid-19 cases topped 9,000 in North Sumatra and stood at around 7,500 in Bali and 6,500 in East Kalimantan.

Overall, Indonesia has a total of 56,720 active cases of coronavirus, or 24.4 percent of total cases. The death toll increased by 122 for a total of 9,222, accounting for 4 percent of total cases.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/indonesia-coronavirus-cases-top-230000-riau-sees-dramatic-surge