Indonesia recorded 693 new coronavirus cases yesterday, the country’s highest daily jump, bringing the national tally to 19,189, according to the country’s Covid-19 task force.
Twenty-one additional deaths were reported overnight, taking the total number of fatalities to 1,242, task force spokesman Achmad Yurianto said.
The capital, Jakarta, remains the epicentre of the outbreak, with more than 6,000 cases. 
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan announced overnight that a partial lockdown in the city, which came into force on April 10, would be extended 
June 4. 
Baswedan said Jakarta experienced growth in daily reported cases, apparently linked to increased activities during the holy month of Ramadan after a period of lull.
“We fear we are headed for a second wave of transmission,” he said at an online news 
conference.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Monday said that the government would not ease restrictions, amid criticism that the government is silently relaxing measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 to keep the economy running. 
Speculation that the government is taking steps towards reopening the economy emerged last week after the head of the country’s Covid-19 task force said residents aged 45 and under could be allowed to return to work. 
Traffic in the greater Jakarta region, a metropolis of 30mn people, has also been busier in recent days ahead of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim festival marking the end of Ramadan, while airports, sea ports and markets have also started to reopen.
Large parts of the country have been under partial lockdown since the first Covid-19 cases were reported in early March.