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Covid-19 cases in Indonesia hit an all time daily high with 54,517 new cases and 991 deaths recorded on Wednesday (July 14), AP reported.

This puts the number of reported cases in Indonesia to more than 2.6 million since the pandemic began, with over 69,000 deaths.

New epicentre Covid-19

Bloomberg reported that Indonesia is now an epicentre of Covid-19 infections in Asia as the number of daily cases overtook India's.

An epidemiologist of the University of Indonesia, Pandu Riono, predicted that the outbreak will continue to increase in July as the country was not yet able to contain the spread of the infection.

CNA said that Indonesia has the highest number of Covid-19 cases and related deaths in Southeast Asia.

Social restrictions "still inadequate"

He further added that the current social restrictions were still inadequate as the Delta variant of Covid-19 continues to spread.

“Emergency social restrictions are still inadequate. They should be twice as stringent since we are facing the delta variant, which is two times more contagious,” he said as quoted by AP. 

On Monday (July 12), Indonesian authorities expanded Covid-19 restrictions to 15 more locations, after a week of restrictions imposed on the island of Java and Bali, according to Reuters.

The restrictions include closure of shopping centres, no dining in, and work-from-home order for all non-essential jobs.

Indonesia on travel ban list

As the case count in Indonesia continues to rise, other countries imposed a travel ban from travellers arriving from or transiting through the country.

These countries include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Taiwan and Hong Kong, according to the Jakarta Post. 

Kyodo News further reported that about 50 Japanese expatriates left Indonesia on a chartered plane to Japan amidst the rising number of cases.

Top image via Wisnu Agung Prasetyo/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images