Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – The coronavirus outbreak is entering the worst period in Indonesia more than nine months after first infection cases were confirmed, with the surge in newly cases hitting a new level and daily death toll exceeding 100 in the last two weeks.
The country is facing a bleak prospect of another dramatic surge in cases related to local elections next Wednesday and the approaching holiday season in the end of the month.
Voters will elect governors, mayors and district heads in nine provinces, 37 cities and 224 districts on Dec. 9, which has been formally declared as national holiday.
The seven-day average of new cases passed the 5,000 mark for the first time last week and has since been climbing steadily to just below 6,000 on Saturday.
Indonesia has recorded 6,027 new cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 569,707, according to the latest Health Ministry data.
It's the third time that daily numbers have topped 6,000, including a single-day record of over 8,300 cases only two days ago. It has added more than 30,000 new cases in only five days into the month.
The total active cases stand at 81,669, also the highest number since the pandemic started.
The country extended the record of longest three-digit daily death toll run to 14 consecutive days after reporting an additional 110 deaths to take the total death toll to 17,589.
The Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) announced on Saturday that 342 medical workers have died from the virus since the outbreak began, including 208 doctors and 136 nurses across the country.
More than 57 percent of nationwide cases have occurred in just four provinces in Java.
Daily numbers in Jakarta have been above 1,000 cases for 23 consecutive days, taking its tally to 142,630. At least 2,778 people have died of the virus in the capital, the second-highest death toll nationwide.
East Java has a total of 64,440 cases and 4,550 deaths – the highest death toll at the provincial level. New cases are trending up in East Java, though its daily count is the smallest among other three worst-affected provinces.
Central Java is ranked third in the overall cases and death toll, totaling 59,986 cases and 2,424 coronavirus-related deaths as of Saturday. It became the only province to ever report more than 2,000 cases in a single day last week.
Similarly, West Java sees a dramatic surge in newly cases with another 1,086 on Saturday to take its total to 57,885. It's only the second time the country's most populous province has recorded a four-digit figure in a single day, after a staggering 1,648 cases only two days ago.
Central Java currently has the biggest number of active cases with 15,890, followed by Jakarta (10,864) and West Java (9,464).
South Sulawesi, which has the fifth-biggest number of confirmed cases, reported resurgence in newly cases after being able to keep daily average within two digits in the October-November period.
It has been averaging 137 cases in the last seven days, bringing the total number of cases to 21,395.
East Kalimantan and West Sumatra have 20,834 cases in total apiece, just below Riau which has recorded a total of 20,913 cases.
The surge is slowing on Bali, which has beaten its own record-high in daily cases twice this week. The resort island, the last among ten worst-affected provinces, reported 91 cases on Saturday to bring its total to 14,633.
Daily count of coronavirus cases is trending up in Banten, which has reported three-digit numbers for 17 consecutive days. A neighbor to Jakarta, Banten has now recorded a total of 13,740 cases.
Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/indonesia-in-worst-period-of-coronavirus-outbrea