The number of coronavirus cases in Indonesia exceeded 75,000 as infections in the two largest hotspots continued to accelerate after the government eased physical-distancing curbs more than a month ago.
There were 1,681 new cases in the 24 hours to midday Sunday, bringing the total to 75,699, authorities said, adding that 71 people succumbed to the virus. The overall death toll is at 3,606, and Indonesia has the most cases and fatalities in Southeast Asia.
The country reported 1,671 cases on Saturday. More than half of the new cases discovered on Sunday came from East Java province and Jakarta, the country’s biggest hotspots.
Coronavirus infections have continued to rise in the world’s fourth-most populous nation even after repeated warnings from President Joko Widodo to his officials to take the crisis seriously. On July 9, when the country reported the highest daily number of cases, Jokowi, as the president is popularly known, called the situation a “red signal.”
The pandemic has hit Indonesia harder than the 1997 Asian financial crisis, battering small and big businesses alike, Jokowi said last month.
