Indonesia sees biggest daily jump in cases with 82 new infections

Indonesia yesterday reported 82 new coronavirus cases, its biggest daily increase, as President Joko Widodo expressed regret that many in the capital have shrugged off social distancing measures.

The total confirmed infections now stand at 309, said government spokesman on Covid-19 management Achmad Yurianto. He added that the number of deaths rose by six to 25, most of which were in Jakarta. Provinces such as West Java, East Java and the Riau Islands also reported new cases.

Mr Joko and his wife, First Lady Iriana, also announced yesterday that they tested negative for the coronavirus, after Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi was confirmed last week to have been infected.

The rise in fatalities from the coronavirus comes as Mr Joko said the country's social distancing measures have not been taken seriously by many Jakarta residents.

"The study-at-home, work-from-home, do-prayer-at-home measures should not be seen as an opportunity to go on holidays," Mr Joko said yesterday before meeting ministers to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.

The measures, announced last Saturday, saw the Jakarta provincial government close all schools in the city of more than 10 million people for two weeks.

Popular tourist sites such as the Taman Impian Jaya Ancol theme park and the National Monument were also closed.

"I noticed people in the past week had flocked to Carita Beach (two hours' drive from Jakarta) and Puncak (mountain resort in nearby Bogor), which both saw a larger number of visitors. Crowds pose an increased risk of spreading Covid-19," Mr Joko warned.

He also instructed the Covid-19 task force to use rapid tests to allow early detection of infections, and said he hoped the testing tools will be available widely.

Mr Achmad said on Wednesday that the rapid tests will take blood serum as a sample, and can be carried out by clinical laboratories nationwide.

Up to now, Indonesia has been using polymerase chain reaction tests and genome sequencing, which require nasal and throat swabs and samples of sputum.

Meanwhile, the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta - the largest in South-east Asia - decided last night that it will not proceed to hold Friday prayers today despite saying earlier that it would go ahead.

While some in Jakarta have travelled out of the capital, others have restricted their movements, Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit ridership figures released yesterday showed.

Passengers using the commuter train service into and out of Jakarta have fallen to about 700,000 a day from the normal 1.2 million a day.

In South Sulawesi province, organisers of a large religious event - the Ijtima Jamaah Tabligh gathering - scheduled to begin yesterday were convinced by the authorities into cancelling it at the last minute.

But fears of a coronavirus spread persisted as more than 8,000 Muslim pilgrims, including more than 400 from overseas, were already in the provincial town of Gowa.

They headed home yesterday via the nearby Makassar airport and seaport.

In Thailand, the authorities reported 60 new infections, the biggest daily jump so far, taking its total cases to 272. It has recorded one death since the outbreak.

The Philippines said yesterday that it was stopping the issuance of visas, banning all foreign nationalities from entering the country, but did not give a timeframe. It has 217 cases and 17 deaths so far.