Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Indonesia recorded 6,725 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, the second-highest daily total since the outbreak began, to take its total to 636,154.
The highest single-day rise was 8,369 cases reported on Dec. 3.
The total number of active cases is nearing 95,000 or 14.9 percent of the overall cases, according to the latest Health Ministry figures.
West Java led the national tally for the second day in a row and overtook Central Java as the third province with the most confirmed cases.
The country's most populous province has recorded 1,434 cases in the past 24 hours, the highest daily number since a provincial record of 1,648 on the same day when the nationwide total hit a new high the last time.
West Java has added nearly 17,000 cases since the beginning of the month, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 69,500. In comparison, it has registered 16,179 cases during the whole month of November.
Jakarta added another 1,221 cases for a total of 156,343, more than any other provinces. Jakarta and West Java are the only provinces so far to average over 1,000 cases since Dec. 1.
East Java is the second province to have recorded more cases in the last 16 days than its monthly total in November. The seven-day average in the province set another record for the 18th day in a row.
East Java is ranked second among worst-hit provinces with a total of 72,124 cases, with an additional 755 cases in the day.
It has added 10,241 cases since the start of the month, in comparison to the November total of 9,418.
South Sulawesi is taking a similar path with record-breaking seven-day averages and higher first-half number than the previous monthly total.
It saw a new high of 447 cases to take its total to 24,019 – the fifth-biggest number of coronavirus cases in the country.
South Sulawesi has beaten its own record in seven-day average six times this month.
Coming next is East Kalimantan, where an average of 220 cases has been reported since the start of the month, the highest number outside the most-crowded island of Java. East Kalimantan has a total of 23,142 cases to rank sixth.
Central Java added just 421 cases on Wednesday, the lowest daily number in more than a month, to bring its tally to 68,681.
Riau and West Sumatra saw three-digit numbers in the 24-hour period although their newly caseloads are in downward trend in general. Banten has emerged as new hotspots with an average of 149 cases throughout the month.
Death toll
An additional 137 Covid patients have died in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 19,248.
The daily death toll has topped 100 in the last 25 days, a run never seen before during the Indonesian outbreak.
The death toll in East Java exceeded the 5,000 mark with a further 47 coronavirus-related deaths, the highest daily death toll.
Jakarta recorded another 22 deaths to take its total to 2,994.
Central Java has the third-highest number of Covid deaths with a total of 2,698, an increase of 24 on the figure a day earlier.
West Java reported just one more Covid death for a total of 1,081.
The remaining provinces have not reached a four-digit casualty toll since the outbreak started.