Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Three provinces on Sumatra Island have had their total number of confirmed coronavirus cases more than double within the last four weeks, leading to a dramatic surge in the national tally as worst-hit provinces on Java Island remain unable to curb the spread of the virus.
Riau has even recorded more than three times the total number of Covid-19 cases – from 1,846 cases on August 31 to 6,577 on Saturday.
West Sumatra reported a 155 percent surge for a total of 5,504 while Aceh saw a 156 rise to 4,173 over the same period.
Meanwhile, four worst-hit provinces in Java keep reporting a spike in cases and all but East Java have been experiencing a much bigger pace in new transmissions compared to last month.
New cases surged by 4,494 nationwide on Saturday to take the country's total to 271,339. This is the sixth day in a row that the daily total has exceeded 4,000.
Indonesia has added around 96,500 cases since Sept. 1, averaging 3,713 cases per day.
Daily death toll fell to the lowest number in almost two weeks, with 90 Covid-19 deaths for a total of 10,308, or 3.8 percent of the total cases.
Big four
Jakarta continues to become the biggest contributor to national caseloads, with another 1,322 for a total of 69,227, including 1,673 deaths.
The surge in the capital city has been extremely high this month, in which Jakarta has added more than 29,000 cases to make up 30 percent of the national tally month-to-date.
The surge is slowing a bit in East Java, the second worst-affected province. It has been averaging 351 cases since the beginning of the month, in comparison to the August average of 369.
East Java has a total of 42,670 cases, but it has recorded the highest death toll, totaling 3,102 as of Saturday.
Daily average in Central Java is almost double than in August, 285 against 143. It has a total of 21,368 cases, including 1,386 deaths.
West Java is catching up quickly by adding more than 9,000 cases month-to-date, second only to Jakarta. West Java now has a total of 20,517 cases.
The gap between West Java and Central Java has been reduced from 2,900 cases in late August to 851 on Saturday.
New hotspots
West Sumatra and Banten have joined Riau, East Kalimantan, Bali and Aceh as new hotspots in the Indonesian outbreak.
Daily numbers in Banten, just west of the epicenter in Jakarta, have entered the three-digit territory right after the midpoint of the month.
From just 2,929 cases on August 1, Banten has now recorded a total of 5,185 cases, an increase by 79 percent.
Ten provinces have accounted for 79 percent of the September tally countrywide. A dramatic surge in Riau means that it has the biggest caseloads in September after the big four provinces in Java.
West Java outpaced both Central Java and East Java this month, while West Sumatra has come from nowhere to rank seventh above Bali, South Sulawesi and North Sumatra.
Indonesia has a total of 61,628 active cases of the virus, while the number of recovered patients are close to 200,000.