VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian Health Ministry announced 127 COVID-19 deaths on Sunday, the highest one-day death toll so far.

The previous highest daily toll was recorded on July 15, when 87 people were reported to have died of the virus.

“One hundred twenty-seven deaths were recorded today, bringing the total number of COVID-19 deaths to 4,143,” the ministry’s disease control and prevention director-general, Achmad Yurianto, said in his daily press briefing on Sunday, referring to the number for the 24 hours ending at noon on Sunday.

He made no further comment on the high death toll.

East Java reported the highest toll on Sunday with 52 deaths, bringing the number of COVID-19 deaths in the region to 1,401. 

East Java remains the province with the highest death toll, far surpassing other regions, including Jakarta’s 736 deaths.

Central Java followed East Java with 23 deaths logged on Sunday. Meanwhile, both Jakarta and South Sulawesi recorded nine new deaths, respectively.

“We should understand that virus transmission is still happening, so please abide by the health protocols,” Yurianto said.

The Health Ministry recently expanded its definition of a COVID-19 death “for surveillance purposes” to include the deaths of probable cases but has yet to publicly announce the numbers under the new definition.

Tempo Magazine recently reported that an internal COVID-19 task force database showed 13,885 COVID-19-related deaths as of July 3. 

Indonesia has the largest number of confirmed cases and the highest death toll in Southeast Asia. Its reported case figure recently surpassed that of China, where the outbreak began. 

Yurianto reported another 1,639 new cases on Sunday, bringing the total to 86,521 confirmed cases nationwide. (The Jakarta Post)