Indonesia Now Has The Most Confirmed COVID-19 Cases In Southeast Asia
Indonesia now has the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in all of Southeast Asia, according to numbers released by the government on Friday.
The Health Ministry in Jakarta reports 5,923 positive cases — following the country's largest daily jump of more than 400 new infections since Thursday. COVID-19 has killed 520 people in Indonesia. In the region, only China, where the novel coronavirus originated, has a higher death toll.
"Transmission is still occurring. This has become a national disaster," Health Ministry official Achmad Yurianto said on Friday, Reuters reports.
He also said testing has increased up to threefold in two weeks.
Indonesia's government has faced criticism for not testing earlier and for not swiftly implementing strict social distancing and travel restrictions.
https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/17/836783432/indonesia-now-has-the-most-confirmed-covid-19-cases-in-southeast-asia