Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Indonesia's ongoing surge in newly coronavirus cases reached a new level with an additional 14,224 cases on Saturday to set a new high for the fourth straight day and take the country's total to 896,642, government figures show.

Saturday's count is 11 percent higher than the previous high reported only a day earlier and marks the longest run of record-breaking daily numbers since the outbreak started.

The total number of active cases stands at 143,517 or 16 percent of reported cases. A further 283 Covid-19 patients have died in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 25,767.

The country has been experiencing the steepest rise in both newly coronavirus cases and deaths since the start of the year. It has added 153,444 cases and 3,629 deaths in the 16-day period.

Jakarta and West Java, both shared more than a third of the overall cases nationwide, broke their own record for the highest number of coronavirus cases in a day.

Jakarta has recorded 3,526 new cases in the past 24 hours to take its total to 223,970, including 3,705 deaths. The capital city has recorded more than 40,000 cases since the start of the year.

West Java added 3,460 cases for a total of 111,096 and reported the province's highest daily death toll of 42 to bring its total death toll to 1,336.

It's for the third day in a row that the country's most populous province has beaten its own high in daily numbers.

Central Java becomes only the third province to have passed the 100,000 mark. The grim figure was reached after the province recorded 1,997 new cases in the 24-hour period, bringing its total number of cases to 101,049.

The province recorded 68 deaths, the highest casualty toll of the day, to bring its total number of Covid-19 deaths to 4,443.

East Java registered 1,160 new cases, the fourth time it saw daily numbers surpassing 1,000 since the outbreak started, for a total of 98,403.

At least 6,833 people have died of Covid-19 in East Java, more than any other provinces.

The combined number of cases in the country's four most populous provinces makes up 60 percent of the national tally.

Other hotspots

South Sulawesi has among the fastest growth of newly cases in recent months. It has added 9,315 cases since January 1 and beaten its own record for the highest daily numbers six times in the process.

It passed the 40,000 mark on Saturday after reporting its highest single-day rise of 659. Its current total represents a 95 percent increase on the figure on November 30.

Similarly, East Kalimantan has seen a dramatic surge in cases since late November.

In the first 16 days of the year, East Kalimantan has recorded 6,082 cases, in comparison to the monthly total of 5,530 in November. The province has recorded a total of 33,158 cases.

Bali, one of the world's most famous resort islands, has been experiencing a dramatic surge in newly cases in the last two weeks.

Daily numbers in Bali fell to fewer than 100 in October and November but began to see an upturn early last month.

It has been averaging 215 cases since the beginning of January, with a total of 21,030 cases.

Coronavirus cases are rising in Yogyakarta with an average of 281 cases this month. The province in southern Java has recorded a total of 16,656 cases, an increase of 174 percent when compared to its figures on Dec. 1.

Banten is the last province to average more than 200 cases this month. It's now ranked ninth among worst-affected provinces with a total of 21,827 cases.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/indonesia-passes-14000-coronavirus-cases-in-a-da