Indonesia Reports Highest Covid Number in a Day

Jakarta. Indonesia recorded 8,854 confirmed cases of coronavirus cases on Wednesday, the highest single-day rise since the outbreak started, to bring the country’s total to 788,402.

The previous record for the highest number of coronavirus cases in a day was 8,369 reported on Dec. 3.

An additional 187 Covid-19 patients have died in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 23,296, Health Ministry figures show.

The dramatic surge has driven up the total number of active cases to 112,593, also an all-time high in the Indonesian outbreak.

A day earlier, the National Covid-19 Task Force said the ongoing surge in newly cases has put the country in an emergency situation in which hospitals in key hotspots are nearing capacity.

“Even the remaining small number of hospital beds may not be usable due to the limited number of medical workers,” task force spokesman Wiku Adisasmito said.

Wednesday’s spike is attributable to the spiraling numbers in Jakarta, which recorded its own all-time high of 2,402 cases, 15 percent higher than the previous high recorded on Christmas Day.

The capital city has recorded a total of 195,301 cases, including 3,382 deaths. It has been averaging more than 1,900 cases since the start of the month.

Daily number of coronavirus cases topped 1,000 for the ninth day in a row in West Java, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 91,131, the second-highest after that of Jakarta.

The country’s most populous province has been averaging 1,259 cases since January 1.

East Java comes next with a total of 88,642 cases, an increase of 845 on its total a day earlier.

It reported 54 Covid-19 deaths to bring its fatality count to 6,173, the highest among other provinces.

Central Java added 1,023 cases for a total of 87,568. It’s for the second time this week the province recorded a four-digit daily total.

Central Java has recorded at least 3,888 Covid deaths since the outbreak began, second only to East Java.

Other hotspots are dispersed in the sprawling archipelago from South Sulawesi to East Kalimantan.

South Sulawesi saw an upturn in newly cases in early December and has since added more than 13,000 cases. By comparison, its November total stood at a mere 2,312 cases.

South Sulawesi has been averaging 558 cases since January 1, bringing its tally to 34,394.

The upward trend in East Kalimantan has not come to a halt since it began to regularly report daily numbers in hundreds in early September. 

Its average of daily cases has been climbing every month from 147 in September to 175 in October to 184 in November to 240 in December.

The province has added 1,657 cases in the last six days to take its total to 28,733.

Banten and Yogyakarta are the last two provinces where month-to-date figures have topped 1,000 as they are emerging fast as new hotspots.

The resort island of Bali also reports a faster growth in new infections, with an average of 144 cases in the six-day period.

The surge is slowing in other hotspots like North Sumatra, West Sumatra and neighboring Riau.