Coronavirus: Indonesia's cases surpass mainland China

Indonesia has the highest number of coronavirus cases in South-east Asia. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

JAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Indonesia has surpassed China in its total number of coronavirus cases, after recording 1,752 new infections on Saturday (July 18).

The new tally for Indonesia is 84,882 as of Saturday afternoon, while China reported 22 new cases to bring its total to 83,644, according to data from China's National Health Commission.

Indonesia also has the highest number of coronavirus cases in South-east Asia, followed by the Philippines with 65,304 cases.

Health Ministry disease control and prevention director general Achmad Yurianto also announced 59 more Covid-19 deaths, putting Indonesia's death toll at 4,016.

In the latest edition of the national guideline on Covid-19 handling and prevention, the ministry now counts the death of probable cases as Covid-19 deaths.

However, Yurianto, who is also the spokesman for the national Covid-19 Task Force, did not specify whether the most recent official death count included both the deaths of probable and confirmed cases.

Jakarta recorded 346 new confirmed cases, followed by Central Java with 266 cases, East Java 204 and South Sulawesi 168.

Meanwhile, East Java reported the most recoveries on Saturday with 555 recovered patients, bringing the total to 43,268.

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