Jakarta. Indonesia reported 5,272 confirmed cases of coronavirus on Saturday, a day after daily number passed the 5,000 mark for the first time since the outbreak began.

The latest data from the Health Ministry reveals that the country now has a total of 463,007 cases and sees the seven-day average exceeding 4,000, the level when it reached its first peak in late September.

This is a major setback after the outbreak seemed to ease with a steady decline for nearly three weeks from Oct. 25.

The death toll rose by 111 for a total of 15,148 or 3.3 percent of the overall cases. The total number of active cases also grew rapidly to nearly 60,000.

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A dramatic surge in cases in Central Java played a key role in the soaring nationwide tally. The province became only the second province to report more than 1,000 cases in a single day on Friday and hit that grim milestone again the following day.

Central Java has a total of 42,372 cases, an increase of 1,222 on its tally a day earlier.

It recorded the highest daily death toll with 40 coronavirus-related deaths for a total of 1,990,

National Covid-19 Task Force spokesman Wiku Adisasmito said increased testing capacity in Central Java resulted in a dramatic rise in newly cases.

“Central Java has anticipated a major uptick in cases because their testing capacity is improving significantly,” Wiku said without going into details.

“Regional governments should continue improving their testing capacity and I don’t think they need to worry about soaring cases as a result of this, because our priority is public safety and health,” he added.

West Java also saw an uptick with 809 more cases for a total of 44,182. The seven-day average in Indonesia’s most populous province began to reach 500 in late September and grew to 650 at present.

It has doubled the total number of cases in just one and a half months.

Jakarta, home to 25 percent of nationwide confirmed cases, has recorded 1,255 cases to take its total to 117,462, including 2,440 deaths. 

The daily numbers in the capital have been sharply fluctuating since the beginning of the month. It reported half Saturday’s figure only three days ago.

It remains to have the highest seven-day average, standing at 894 cases in comparison to Central Java’s 756.

East Java is the only province among the top four to reach a plateau in new infections, but still averages 246 cases this week.

It has the second-biggest number of confirmed cases, totaling 56,070. 

The number of Covid-19 deaths in East Java exceeded 4,000 with an additional 25 fatalities on Saturday.

Second Group
The surge is slowing in other hotspots like Riau, West Sumatra and Bali, while newly cases in South Sulawesi begin to climb although it still averages fewer than 100 cases.

South Sulawesi was hit badly by the virus early on and remained in the fifth place with a total of 19,260 cases. However, East Kalimantan and West Sumatra are catching up with more than double the daily average in South Sulawesi.

East Kalimantan has added more than 2,700 cases since the beginning of the month, the highest among the second group of worst-affected provinces, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 16,807.

It’s ranked seventh after West Sumatra (17,142).