Jakarta. Indonesia recorded 308 coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday to set a new record for the highest number of fatality in a day since the outbreak began and take the total death toll to 26,590, according to Health Ministry data.
It’s only for the third time that the daily death toll has topped 300. The previous record was 306 deaths reported last week.
An average of 234 Covid-19 patients died every day in the first 19 days of the year or a total of 4,452. With this pace, January will become the deadliest month in the Indonesian outbreak.
The highest monthly death toll was recorded last month with a total of 5,193 deaths.
There have been a total of 927,380 coronavirus cases with an additional 10,365 cases in the past 24 hours.
The total number of active cases stands at 146,842, resulting in hospitals nearing their capacity.
There has been a dramatic surge in caseloads since late November and the virus has been spreading even faster since the country entered 2021, with health experts blaming public traveling and gathering during the holiday season.
Monthly Record Beaten
The country has added 184,182 cases since January 1 and is set to surpass the previous record for the highest monthly figures as soon as Wednesday.
The vast majority of confirmed cases have come from the country’s four most-populous provinces — Jakarta, West Java, Central Java and East Java — which make up 60 percent of the national tally.
Jakarta has recorded a total of 232,289 cases, representing 25 percent of the national figures.
The capital city has recorded 3,814 Covid deaths since the outbreak started.
It has added 48,554 cases in the 19-day period, already surpassing its highest monthly total of 46,874 cases registered in December.
West Java is following a similar path by having recorded 32,157 cases month to date, beating its monthly high of 31,062 cases also registered in December.
The province of 50 million now has a total of 115,736 cases and 1,399 deaths.
Central Java sets a provincial record for the highest casualty toll in a day with 104 deaths, bringing its total death toll to 4,672.
It has been averaging 1,282 cases since January 1 to take its total to 106,076.
East Java remains the deadliest place in the Indonesian outbreak with a total of 7,057 deaths, 89 more from the previous day.
It’s the last province to hit a six-digit count with a total of 101,197 cases.
South Sulawesi is another province where month-to-date figures already surpassed its highest monthly numbers. It has added 11,308 cases in the first 19 days of the year, as opposed to its monthly high of 10,390 cases in December.
South Sulawesi has recorded a total of 42,355 cases, the highest outside the four giants in Java, and 694 deaths.
East Kalimantan comes next with a total of 34,429 cases, but it has the fifth-highest death toll of 890.
The resort island of Bali saw an upturn in early December and has added the pace in new infections since early this month. It has been averaging 220 cases in the last 19 days, in comparison to an average of 120 cases in December.
Bali has a total of 21,777 cases to rank 10th among worst-affected provinces, but is currently outpacing Riau (27,626) and West Sumatra (25,743).
Coronavirus cases are rising in Banten and Yogyakarta, two other provinces in the country’s most-crowded island of Java.
Banten has recorded a total of 22,538 cases, averaging 230 this month.
Yogyakarta is ranked 12th with a total of 17,515 cases. However, the province in southern Java has recorded a 188 percent rise in a span of 50 days.
