Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Newly cases of coronavirus in Indonesia have been trending down in the past two weeks, with 3,222 new cases on Monday, the lowest daily total since Sept. 14, to take the country's total to 392,934.
However, daily numbers are typically lower on Mondays due to reduced laboratory capacity in the weekend.
The country also reported higher number of cured or discharged patients than newly confirmed cases, with 3,908 for a total of 317,672 recoveries.
The number of coronavirus-related deaths rose by 112 for a total of 13,411 or 3.4 percent of the reported cases. That means Southeast Asia's biggest country still has 61,851 active cases of the virus.
Jakarta has recorded 906 new cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 101,897, including 2,177 deaths.
The daily average in the capital is slowing to 1,083 from 1,122 in September. Jakarta is the only province in the country to ever report a four-digit daily number.
East Java has the second-biggest number of coronavirus cases, totaling 51,217 on Monday, and the highest death toll of 3,683. Like Jakarta, it also sees a slower growth in newly cases.
But the virus continues to spread at a faster speed in West and Central Java, both have outpaced East Java since the start of the month.
West Java has been averaging 467 cases since October 1, in comparison to East Java's 287. The country's most populous province has recorded a total of 34,355 cases since the outbreak began, more than a third have occurred during this month alone.
Newly coronavirus cases in Central Java have been growing by an average of 372 since the beginning of the month, taking its total to 32,098. With a total of 1,689 Covid-19 deaths, Central Java has the third biggest death toll after East Java and Jakarta.
Contrasting trends
In the second group of worst-affected provinces, four provinces are moving in the right direction into flattening the curve, but four others are adding the pace to new infections.
South Sulawesi added just 14 new cases on Monday for a total of 17,950, while South Kalimantan registered only two more cases for a total of 11,650.
North Sumatra and Bali are able to keep their daily averages within two digits, with the total number of cases standing at 12,655 and 11,455, respectively.
On the other hand, West Sumatra and Riau extended their surge in newly cases that has begun since early September.
West Sumatra has beaten its own record in daily numbers four times in the last three weeks and more than doubled its total number of coronavirus cases to 13,060 since the start of the month.
Riau has leapfrogged many provinces to rank sixth – with a total of 13,752 cases currently and no signs of slowing. It has been averaging 236 cases since Oct. 1, still more than the combined daily averages of South Sulawesi and South Kalimantan.
East Kalimantan reported a higher daily average from last month, 176 against 147, and is ranked seventh with a total of 13,225 cases.
Banten, just southwest of Jakarta, also has beaten its daily high twice this month, in which it has been averaging 126 cases. The province overtook South Sumatra and Papua to reach the 12th place with a total of 8,914 cases.