Coronavirus infections in Indonesia top 200,000

JAKARTA, Indonesia

Over 3,000 more coronavirus infections have raised Indonesia’s overall count above 200,000, authorities said on Tuesday.

The Health Ministry said 3,046 new cases were confirmed over the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide tally to 200,035.

At least 100 more virus-related fatalities pushed the death toll up to 8,230, while recoveries in the archipelagic country jumped by 2,306 to reach 142,958.

Indonesia has the second-highest number of coronavirus infections among member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, behind only the Philippines’ 241,987 cases.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the region is now above 508,000, with more than 12,200 fatalities.

Indonesia has conducted over 2.4 million COVID-19 tests since its first cases in early March, with some 32,000 administered over the past day.

Jakarta cemetery running out of space

The capital Jakarta, which remains Indonesia’s worst-hit region, accounted for 1,014 of the total new cases detected since Monday.

The overall count in the capital now stands at 48,393, including 1,317 deaths and more than 36,000 recoveries, according to the Health Ministry.

As fatalities pile up in the capital, Pondok Ranggon cemetery – one of the two graveyards designated for coronavirus victims in the city of over 10 million – is expected to soon run out of space.

A management official told Anadolu Agency that an average of 25 bodies are being buried at the graveyard every day.

“In a month, there were around 720 burials with coronavirus protocols,” said Nadi, who goes by only one name.

“At this rate, the remaining land is likely be full by October.”

* Writing by Rhany Chairunissa Rufinaldo from Anadolu Agency’s Indonesian language services in Jakarta