The Indonesian government said, on Thursday, the death toll from the coronavirus in the country climbed to 170, the highest in Southeast Asia.
At a press conference, the government’s spokesperson for the COVID-19, Achmad Yurianto, said that the number of confirmed cases jumped to 1,790 and 112 patients recovered.
Capital city Jakarta, home to some 10 million people, suffers the highest number of deaths totalling 90, followed by West Java – 25, Banten – 14, East Java – 11, Central Java – seven, and the rest recorded in other areas.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has declared a national public health emergency status over the coronavirus pandemic.
Authorities have been conducting rapid tests in areas where cases were detected.
The government has turned the Wisma Atlet Kemayoran, the apartment towers in central Jakarta, which were used to billet athletes competing in the 2018 Asian Games, into an emergency hospital intended to treat as many as 24,000 COVID-19 patients. (Xinhua/NAN)