JAKARTA (REUTERS, JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Indonesia reported 12,990 new coronavirus infections on Friday (June 18), its highest since late January, taking its overall cases to 1,963,266, It also reported 290 new deaths, the most in a day since April 4, bringing the total fatalities to 54,043.

The latest toll eclipses the daily rise in cases reported on Thursday.

Indonesia has seen surges of Covid-19 cases in several regions of the country, including Central Java and parts of East Java. The rising case numbers have occurred in the weeks following increased mobility during the Idul Fitri holidays.

Health authorities found that the Delta variant of the coronavirus, which was first detected in India, most likely caused the recent surge in Indonesia.

Many experts have urged the government to reimpose large-scale restrictions to prevent further Covid-19 transmissions as healthcare services in several regions have been overwhelmed by suspected and confirmed patients.

The Covid-19 hospital bed occupancy rate has reached at least 70 per cent in several regions. However, the government has opted out of imposing stricter restrictions, with the Health Ministry saying that the current micro-scale public activity restrictions have been very effective.