Singapore has just reported 942 new cases of Covid-19, as of 12pm on April 18.

This has pushed the total to 5,992, making Singapore the country with the highest number of reported Covid-19 cases in Asean, surpassing Indonesia which reported 5,923 on April 17, according to the Jakarta Post.

Singapore previously had 5,050 cases a day before.

However, out of the 942 new cases of Covid-19 infection reported in Singapore on Saturday, April 18, 2020, the number of local cases continued to decline, with only 14 Singaporeans/ Permanent Residents reported.

The Covid-19 numbers in the region that are piling up are reflecting both the severity of the pandemic, as well as the transparency of the reporting by the various countries of cases and associated deaths.

Indonesia the hardest-hit in terms of fatalities

In terms of fatalities, however, Indonesia is the hardest-hit country in the region with 520 reported deaths from the virus.

On April 17, 24 new deaths were reported, along with 407 cases of the virus.

The archipelago nation also has the highest fatality at 8.7 per cent.

Indonesia confirmed its first two Covid-19 cases only on March 2.

Before that, the country consistently reported zero cases.

As of April 5, CNA reported that Indonesia's number of infections stood at less than 2,500 cases.

The number of cases in Singapore stood at 1,189 at that time.

Rise in Indonesia's cases is due to more aggressive testing

Experts attributed the rise in Indonesia's cases to more aggressive testing.

Between March 5 and April 2, less than 10,000 tests were conducted.

Since April 5, more than 30,000 more tests have been conducted although this is still deemed insufficient given the country's population of 260 million.

Previously, there were doubts raised about the actual number of cases in Indonesia, strongly suggesting they were under reported.

Top image from Lawrence Wong Facebook