JAKARTA (BLOOMBERG) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo urged a cautious approach to lifting of partial lockdowns covering almost 100 million people in a string of regions and cities amid pressure to re-open the economy as the nation's death toll from the coronavirus pandemic topped 1,000.

"The easing must be done carefully and not in a hurry," Mr Joko, commonly known as Jokowi, said Tuesday (May 12). "It must be based on data and implementation in the field so that the decision is the right decision."

As South-east Asia's biggest economy continues to grind to a halt, adding millions to the ranks of the unemployed, officials have begun discussing an exit strategy from large scale social distancing rules.

But with a health system buckling under the weight of the pandemic that's showed no sign of slowing its spread, medical experts have cautioned against easing restrictions.

The death toll from the outbreak reached 1,007 on Tuesday with a total of 14,749 people infected so far, official data show.

The number of people suspected of contracting the virus and exhibiting symptoms but still awaiting clinical confirmation totaled almost 32,000 and authorities have put nearly 250,000 people under observation nationwide.

More than 20 provinces and cities in Indonesia have imposed large-scale social restrictions with varying degrees of success. Of the 10 provinces with the most cases, only three had resorted to partial lockdowns with the island of Java accounting for 70 per cent of new cases, and 82 per cent of deaths, Mr Joko said.

But the spread of the virus and the strict social restrictions have also seen commerce stall, while officials are now warning of a massive outflow of capital that has already dwarfed levels seen during the global financial crisis.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati on Monday reiterated an earlier revised projection for the economy to grow 2.3 per cent this year, from an initial forecast of 5.3 per cent, while warning it could contract 0.4 per cent in a worst-case scenario.