Jakarta. Indonesia surpassed 1 million coronavirus cases on Tuesday amid a dramatic surge in newly cases that has started since early this month, the country’s worst period after 331 days into the pandemic.
The country has recorded 13,094 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 1,012,350, government figures show.
That makes Indonesia the 19th country in the world to have reached the sad milestone, according to data from US-based Johns Hopkins University.
A further 336 Covid patients have died in the 24-hour period, the second-highest daily death toll after a record 346 deaths only five days ago.
The virus has killed 28,468 people in Indonesia since the country’s first cases were confirmed on March 2.
Coronavirus cases and daily death toll have been rising dramatically since the beginning of the month with health experts blaming year-end travelling and gathering for the spike.
Month-to-date figures already beat the previous monthly high with 269,152 cases and 6,330 deaths, according to the Jakarta Globe tally.
Indonesia has been averaging 10,352 cases and 243 deaths in the 26-day period, in comparison to an average of 6,591 cases and 168 deaths during the previous worst period in December.
The most crowded island of Java has a disproportionate share of caseloads, with six provinces making up around 64 percent of the national tally.
Jakarta, home to 25 percent of overall cases, has recorded a total 254,580 cases, more than those of West and Central Java combined.
The surge in the capital city is on a different level, averaging 2,725 cases since January 1.
At least 4,077 Covid-19 patients have died in the country’s biggest city.
West Java saw a new high in its daily total with 3,924 cases in the 24-hour period to take its total to 131,322 cases. The latest figure represents an increase of 146 percent on the province’s total on December 1. Its total number of cases includes 1,532 deaths.
Neighboring Central Java has recorded a total of 118,204 cases and 5,130 deaths since the outbreak began.
East Java remains the deadliest place in the Indonesian outbreak with a total of 7,514 deaths from 108,017 cases.
Banten, in the western tip of Java, has joined the top ten of worst-affected provinces since December 21 and now has a total of 24,961 cases.
Yogyakarta, in the southern part of the island, is ranked 12th with a total of 20,054 cases. By comparison, the province recorded a total of 6,073 cases on December 1.
Coronavirus cases are rising at a faster speed in other hotspots like South Sulawesi, which has recorded a total of 45,637 cases, East Kalimantan (37,971) and Bali (24,340).
