Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – The overwhelming majority of confirmed coronavirus cases in Indonesia have occurred in the most densely-populated island of Java, where four worst-hit provinces are making up 57 percent of the national count.

The country has recorded 315,714 cases as of Wednesday, an increase by 4,538 from a day earlier. Cases in Jakarta alone account for 26 percent of the national tally.

The capital has been averaging 1,208 cases per day in the past week, taking its total to 82,190 cases, including 1,817 deaths. No other provinces have ever reported four-digit daily numbers.

East Java is the only province among the top four to report a downward trend in newly cases, but its daily caseloads remain within hundreds.

It has the second-highest number of cases, totaling 45,748 on Wednesday, and the highest death toll of 3,350.

The surge continues in West Java, which already has doubled its total number of cases throughout last month and overtaken Central Java in the top three. It has been averaging 494 cases in the past week, leading to a total of 25,662 cases.

Cases are also surging in Central Java, albeit at a slower pace than West Java's. It averages 354 cases, in comparison to an average of 282 in September.

Central Java has a total of 24,913 cases, including 1,462 deaths, the third-highest death toll after that of East Java and Jakarta.

Second group

In the second group of worst-affected provinces, South Sulawesi, South Kalimantan and North Sumatra have reported a slower rise in daily cases compared to last month. Daily averages in the three provinces have fallen to two digits.

That was, however, eclipsed by a dramatic surge in cases in East Kalimantan, Riau and West Sumatra.

East Kalimantan has been averaging 188 cases, even higher than an average of 147 last month.

Riau had only around 1,800 cases just over a month ago but it's now in the top ten provinces with the most cases with a total of 8,982 cases.

The same story goes to West Sumatra, which has averaged 192 cases in the past week. Confirmed cases in the province jumped from 2,157 in late August to 7,623 on Wednesday, an increase by 253 percent.

Indonesia has nearly 64,000 active cases of the virus, while around 76 percent of infected persons or 240,291 cases have been cured or discharged from hospitals.

The death toll stood at 11,472 on Wednesday, representing 3.6 percent of the total cases.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/four-provinces-in-java-account-for-over-a-half-of-national-covid-cases