YAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia reported its largest accumulation of new coronavirus cases for a time directly on Friday, while plant operations in the country’s largest province were reduced following the emergence of new infection groups.
Indonesia broke 3,000 new instances for the first time and added 105 new deaths, as the West Java government addressed outbreaks in 3 factories that, according to the provincial governor, were possibly due to non-compliance with fitness measures through workers.
Among them was a plant owned by Japanese automaker Suzuki, which halved operations after 71 workers tested positive for coronavirus. On Friday, Suzuki Indonesia said in a statement that it would remain at reduced capacity until situations were safe.
That adds up to more than two hundred in a factory owned by South Korean company LG Electronics, which a spokesman said would resume operations next week.
West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil said infections indicated that fitness protocols were fully followed. He said there had been an outbreak on a third floor, but he gave details.
“When it turned out there were clusters, there were movements that did not stick to protocols, such as not dressing with mask diligently, not keeping a safe distance, not washing hands, or other asymptomatic people running for activities. Kamil said.
Friday’s news across the country raised the total number of infections to 165,887 and the death toll to 7,169.
Indonesia’s deaths are the largest in Southeast Asia and its infections are the largest after those in the Philippines.
The capital, Jakarta, reported on Friday its number of infections with 869 new cases, followed by 526 in West Java.
Jakarta, a city of 10 million inhabitants, on Thursday extended its social restrictions for two weeks, meaning restaurants or places of worship will have to continue operating in limited capacity.
Tri Yunis Miko Wahyono, an epidemiologist at the University of Indonesia, said the government’s plan to phase out Jakarta’s restrictions will slow down.
“Ideally, if there were no economic pressures, the restrictions would be stricter,” he said, adding that enforcing closures in threat spaces can simply be effective.
(Additional report via Heekyong Yang in Seoul; edited through Martin Petty)
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