Virus Death Toll in Indonesia Nears 1,000

(Bloomberg) -- The death toll from the coronavirus in Indonesia neared 1,000, a day after the world’s fourth-most populous country reported a record surge in new cases.

Fourteen people succumbed to the deadly virus in the past 24 hours in Indonesia, taking the total to 973, Achmad Yurianto, a spokesman for the government task force on Covid-19, said at an online briefing on Sunday. The total number of positive cases rose to 14,032, with tests confirming 387 more new infections, he said.

The number of people suspected of contracting the virus and exhibiting symptoms but still awaiting clinical confirmation topped 30,000 for the first time, Yurianto said. There were almost 250,000 people under observation nationwide, he said. A total of 2,698 people have so far recovered from the Covid-19, Yurianto said.

The government has banned travel and progressively tightened restrictions on movement to curb the spread of the virus. Officials expect the disease will infect about 95,000 people before it eases. Still, they foresee a return to restriction-free life by July as authorities step up testing nationwide. There are fears of a second wave of infections from the return of thousands of migrant workers and cruise-ship employees in the coming weeks.

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