Confirmed coronavirus cases surpass 100,000 in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia announced Monday that its confirmed coronavirus cases have surpassed 100,000, the highest amount in Southeast Asia.

Cases continue to rise across the world’s fourth-most populous nation as testing remains sharply limited and businesses continue to reopen. The health ministry announced 1,525 more cases on Monday, bringing the country’s confirmed total to 100,303. The actual number is thought to be considerably higher because of the low testing and other factors.

While neighboring countries imposed lockdowns and closed their borders, Indonesia's leaders attributed an apparent early success with the pandemic to prayer and took few precautions against the virus's spread across the vast archipelago nation until the first official cases were confirmed in early March.

As the virus began to quickly spread — especially in metropolitan areas — the government instituted a lockdown in six regions of the country.

Those restrictions began to be slowly lifted in early June. Malls and restaurants reopened after installing plastic shields and implementing temperature checks, flights restarted across the country, and motorcycle taxis resumed operations with plastic shields separating drivers from their customers.

But owners said they know of no foolproof ways to prevent the spread of the virus in their businesses.

“As a businessman, we are only able to take such actions,” said Jakarta coffee shop owner Amir Faisal, who installed acrylic shields at his cafe’s tables.

Some health experts remain critical of the government’s decision to reopen businesses.

“The government is only thinking about the economy, not the cases. The increase in people’s activities, gatherings, and work are potentially increasing the numbers,” said...