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JAKARTA: Indonesia reported its largest daily increase in coronavirus infections, with 4,168 new cases on Saturday (September 19), bringing the total to 240,687, data from the country’s Ministry of Health showed.
Another 112 people have died from COVID-19, bringing the total death toll to 9,448, the highest death toll in Southeast Asia.
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said Thursday that the country’s capital plans to double its COVID-19 testing capacity in the near future.
Jakarta alone has seen more than 1,000 new cases a day on average this month, more than double the average in the first half of August, with the tide of infections mounting pressure on its poor health sector.
Baswedan said in an interview that the city of 10 million was conducting around 50,000 coronavirus tests daily and hopes to “at least double where we are today.”
READ: The return to the Jakarta lockdown will affect the economy this quarter, but you have to swallow the bitter pill: economists
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Jakarta’s weekly testing rate of five and a half to six people per 1,000 residents in the past three weeks was five times the WHO minimum benchmark.
Baswedan said the rapid rise in cases left him no choice but to regain the social restrictions that he eased in June, with the reimposition of limits on trade, transportation and places of worship.
Indonesian House Speaker Puan Maharani said on Thursday that government institutions should establish examples of disciplined health protocols, following the emergence of COVID-19 clusters in key ministries.
Ms Maharani said that COVID-19 has spread to 30 ministerial offices and agencies in the capital, according to data from the Jakarta government.
READ: COVID-19 cluster in Indonesia’s health ministry prompts government institutions to set an example of strict protocols
“The large number of COVID-19 cases in these office clusters is very concerning.
“Government offices must set an example of complying with disciplined health protocols,” added Mdm Maharani.
The president of the parliament asked that the institutions, both nationally and regionally, evaluate and control the implementation of health protocols in their respective offices.
“Don’t let government offices become a bad example of health protocol implementation,” he said.
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