COVID-19: Indonesia death toll at 122, cases top 1,400

By Nicky Widadio, Erric Permana, Umar Idris

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AA) - The coronavirus death toll in Indonesia rose to 122 on Monday as authorities confirmed eight more fatalities across the country.

The number of COVID-19 cases increased to 1,414, with 129 more cases reported over the past 24 hours.

“Eleven more patients have recovered and the total is now 75,” government spokesman Achmad Yurianto said at a news conference in Jakarta.

He said authorities have distributed 191,666 sets of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in all provinces with confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Meanwhile, President Joko Widodo called for a social safety net program to be introduced at the earliest to help informal workers who were forced to return to their hometowns.

"There are around 14,000 informal workers who have left Jakarta because their income had decreased drastically," said Widodo.

He asked regional heads, including governors and mayors, to increase supervision on people returning from Jakarta to curb potential transmission of the virus.

The president also announced plans to impose broad social restrictions to stem the spread of the virus. He, however, did not share details of the steps or when they will be enforced.

- Jakarta reports most cases

So far, 31 out of Indonesia’s 34 provinces have reported cases of COVID-19.

Most of the cases were reported in Jakarta, West Java, and Banten provinces, which have 698, 180, and 128 cases, respectively.

On Saturday, the government of Jakarta, which is the capital of Indonesia and officially a province, asked President Widodo to impose a regional quarantine to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Police have also started security simulations in the capital, according to senior police official Yusri Yunus.

"Jakarta is imposing social distancing and physical distancing, but there is no local quarantine order yet. But we need these simulations to be ready for whenever that step is taken," he explained.

After first emerging in Wuhan, China, last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 177 countries and regions, according to data compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

The data shows nearly 738,000 cases have been reported worldwide so far, with the death toll above 35,000 and over 156,000 recoveries.