Indonesia calls for more Covid-19 testing as deaths climb

JAKARTA: Faced by a rising death toll from coronavirus and a big jump in infections, Indonesia’s president yesterday called for testing to be stepped up immediately in the world’s fourth most populous country.

Less than three weeks since the country of 260 million announced its first case of the virus, its death toll had reached 25 – higher than in any other Southeast Asian country.

The number of infections in Indonesia jumped by 82 to 309, which together with daily rises of 110 in Malaysia and 60 in Thailand sent the number of reported infections across Southeast Asia to nearly 2,200.

“I ask that the number of testing kits and the number of test centres are increased and we get more hospitals involved,“President Joko Widodo said.

The presidential palace said both he and his wife had tested negative for Covid-19.

Indonesia has faced criticism from medical workers for a slow start to testing that might have more quickly revealed the scale of the problem in an archipelago that spans an area greater than the continental United States.

Indonesia had carried out only 1,592 tests as of yesterday – only a few hundred more than Cambodia despite having over 16 times as many people and being far wealthier.

South Korea has carried out 290,000 tests. A health ministry official said nearly all of the dead in Indonesia had other medical conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure or chronic heart problems.

The youngest’s age was given was 37.

Jakarta will suspend all religious gatherings such as Muslim Friday prayers and church services for two weeks, its governor said.

A rally of Muslim pilgrims that had already drawn thousands of people to the South Sulawesi province was cancelled under pressure from local authorities.

After initially resisting the closure of the event, organiser Mustari Bahranuddin said he would cancel the rally, but it would be hard for pilgrims to leave quickly. – Reuters