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COVID-19: Indonesia sees another daily record in cases as govt mulls PSBB relaxation
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Medical workers take a swab sample from a patient under monitoring (PDP) at the Tarakan General Hospital in North Kalimantan on April 28. (Antara/Fachrurrozi)
T
he Health Ministry reported another record number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday as the government explores ways to ease the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB).
"Our labs reported 693 new cases today, bringing the total [confirmed cases] to 19,189. The number of recoveries has increased by 108 and the fatalities rose by 21 people," the ministry’s disease control and prevention director general, Achmad Yurianto, said in a press conference on Wednesday.
The total number of fatalities as of Wednesday had increased to 1,242, he added.
The spike comes a week after the ministry reported its previous one-day record last Wednesday with 689 new cases.
On Sunday, the ministry had reported the highest number of daily fatalities in more than a month with 59 people.
However, many have surmised that the government is underreporting cases, as reports from provincial administrations put the number of deaths at more than 3,000.
After the Transportation Ministry eased travel restrictions on May 5, the government announced that it was exploring ways to also ease its PSBB policy.
"We've reported several concepts for relaxing restrictions [to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo], including efforts and strategies to face challenges in the new normal," the national COVID-19 rapid response task force chief, Doni Monardo, said in a teleconference on Monday.
