JAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Indonesia recorded an unprecedented daily increase in the Covid-19 death toll on Tuesday (Sept 22) with 160 fatalities, bringing the national tally to 9,837.

The Central Java province reported the highest number of deaths with 42, followed by Jakarta – the initial epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak – with 30, East Java with 25, Banten with 16 and West Java with 11.

The country saw its confirmed cases rise by 4,071 to 252,923 on the same day. Jakarta logged the most with 1,236, followed by West Java with 575, East Java with 341, Riau with 253 and Central Java with 228.

According to worldometers.info, Indonesia has the second-highest number of recorded Covid-19 cases in Southeast Asia, just below the Philippines, which has recorded more than 290,000 cases. Indonesia sits at number 23 worldwide.

On Monday, Indonesia saw a record one-day increase in confirmed cases with a jump of 4,176.

The country had never seen a daily increase above 4,000 prior to mid-September.

The government recently decided to implement stricter health protocols in an attempt to curb the transmission of the virus and has assigned the military and the police to enforce the protocols.

Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said last week that the stricter measures would be in place until the country was able to vaccinate residents en masse, which he expected to take place in December.

He said the government was seeking to vaccinate 100 million people by January 2021. There is currently no proven vaccine for Covid-19.

Indonesia has reportedly secured 300 million doses of candidate vaccines from foreign pharmaceutical companies, including China’s Sinovac Biotech.

As cases continue to rise, the national Covid-19 task force has warned that the country’s health system might soon collapse if the public continues to ignore Covid-19 prevention protocols.

Doctors associations have reported that more than 100 doctors have died battling the pandemic.

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