Jakarta. Indonesia has recorded more than 2,500 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 18 days and is bracing for more deaths in the next few weeks, while newly confirmed cases are also rising at an unprecedented rate.
At this point in September, when the monthly death toll set the all-time high, there were around 1,900 deaths.
The daily death toll has topped 100 since November 22, a run never seen before since the outbreak started. During the process, the country has shattered its own record for the highest daily death toll three times.
The previous longest run of three-digit daily deaths was 12 days, from September 14 through 25.
If the current growth rate of casualties continues, the monthly death toll will easily beat the September record of 3,323 Covid deaths.
Indonesia has recorded 19,514 coronavirus deaths since the first casualty was confirmed on March 11, according to the Health Ministry data published on Friday.
A further 124 Covid patients have died in the past 24 hours, including 47 in East Java alone.
The province has the highest casualty toll in the Indonesian outbreak, totaling 5,102. Jakarta came next with a total of 3,033 deaths, followed by Central Java (2,746) and West Java (1,093).
The official figures don’t include deaths from probable cases although thousands more deceased patients have been buried under the Covid protocol across the country.
Confirmed Cases
Indonesia recorded a total of 650,197 cases with another 6,689 new cases on Friday.
The total number of active cases stands at 98,688 to further set a new high. The seven-day average also reached an all-time high at 6,422.
Most of Indonesian hospitals tasked with treating Covid patients have reported occupancy rate above 70 percent. There were around 42,000 beds for Covid patients in 921 hospitals across the country.
Jakarta added 1,587 new cases for a total of 159,620. It was the capital city’s second-highest daily count after a record 1,690 cases reported only a day earlier.
East Java, which has seen resurgence in newly cases since late last month, registered 819 cases – also its second-highest daily number. The province is in a distant second with a total of 73,798 cases.
The average of daily cases in East Java has set a new record for the 20th day in a row and surpassed that of Central Java for the first time since September 27.
West Java similarly sees a dramatic surge in newly cases and becomes only the second province after Jakarta to average more than 1,000 cases since the beginning of the month. It now has the third-highest number of confirmed cases nationwide, with a total of 71,764.
Both East and West Java have recorded more cases in the last 18 days than their monthly total in November.
The surge is slowing in Central Java, which registered just 354 cases in the day, its lowest daily total since November 11.
Other Hotspots
Newly cases have been in a steady rise in South Sulawesi since it reported an upturn late last month.
It has beaten its own record for the highest number of daily cases three times this month and reported an all-time high of 531 on Friday to take its total to 24,883 cases.
The seven-day average in the province passed 300 for the first time since the outbreak began.
New infections are in upward trend in East Kalimantan as well, with another 280 cases to bring its total to 23,657.
Riau and West Sumatra have seen their daily total return to three digits in the last few days, while Banten and Centreal Kalimantan are emerging new hotspots.
