Jakarta. Jakarta has surpassed East Java in the total number of active cases of the novel coronavirus since a few days ago, in another clear sign that the epicenter of the Indonesian outbreak has returned to the capital.

While East Java has accumulated the most confirmed cases of the virus, it also has the highest number of recoveries and, sadly, the highest death toll among any other provinces.

That resulted in a total of 5,717 active cases for East Java on Sunday, in comparison to Jakarta’s 7,273.

Jakarta added 377 new cases, the ninth day in a row that it reported the highest daily rise, to take its total to 22,144, including 844 deaths. Around 14,000 Covid-19 patients in Jakarta have been cured or discharged from hospitals.

East Java recorded a total of 22,504 cases, including 1,719 deaths and 15,068 recovered patients.

In terms of the total number of confirmed cases that include deaths and recoveries, the gap between the two worst-hit provinces has been drastically narrowing in less than three weeks.

East Java, which has surpassed Jakarta and emerged as the province with the most confirmed cases since June 26, had the biggest lead of 2,166 cases over the national capital on July 14.

The midpoint of the month also became a turning point for Jakarta to start reducing the gap to just 360 cases on Sunday. Throughout July, Jakarta has averaged 323 cases per day in comparison to East Java’s 318.

With the trend continuing in the opening of this month, Jakarta looks set to surpassed East Java in coming days.

Combined cases from both provinces accounted for 40 percent of the national tally.

Lowest Death Toll in Over a Month

The country reported 1,519 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, the lowest daily figure in a week, bringing the total number of cases to 111,455, including 5,236 deaths.

But cases were typically lower in the weekends due to reduced laboratory capacity.

The daily death toll was put at 43, the lowest number of Covid-19 deaths since June 28. 

The number of cured Covid-19 patients rose by 1,056 for a total of 68,975, representing 61.9 percent of the total cases. It was also the smallest figure of daily recoveries since July 14.

Overall, the country has 37,244 active cases.

Apart from Jakarta and East Java, only two other provinces reported a three-digit figure in the day.

New hotspot North Sumatra added 174 more cases to take its total to 4,136. 

Gorontalo again saw a surge in cases, with 127 new cases for a total of 1,284. The province in the northern part of Sulawesi Island has experienced an upward trend since the third week of July.