COVID-19: Indonesia records 191 deaths but many disputing it

The official number of COVID-19-related deaths in Indonesia has increased to 191 cases, however, many quarters have begun questioning the validity of data released by the central government.

The government’s spokesperson for all COVID-19 related matters, Achmad Yurianto said, 10 more deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours and 106 new cases had been confirmed, bringing the tally of positive cases in the republic to 2,092.

He also said that all recorded deaths and new cases had been verified based on procedures and examination standard that had been set.

Questions have been raised on the accuracy of the casualty numbers after Jakarta Governor, Anies Baswedan in a video conference with Indonesian Vice-President, Ma’ruf Amin on April 2 stated that “dozens of deaths, more than 40 deaths recorded daily” in Jakarta throughout last March.

Based on death statistics released by the Jakarta administrator, a total of 283 deaths recorded between March 6 to 29 and all of the bodies were buried following burial procedures for COVID-19 patients, including suspected cases and those who died before they were confirmed positive for the virus.

West Java Governor, Ridwan Kamil was quoted by the local media as also questioning the figures announced by the central government which he said were higher.

The central government announced that both Jakarta and West Java recorded the highest number of fatalities to date, at 90 and 28 cases respectively. - BERNAMA