JAKARTA, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government said on Wednesday that the death toll of the coronavirus (COVID-19) climbed to 157, the highest in Southeast Asia, with a total 1,677 cases in the country.
At a press conference, the government's spokesman for all coronavirus-related matters Achmad Yurianto added that 103 patients have recovered.
Jakarta suffers the highest number of deaths totaling 85, followed by 21 in West Java, 14 in Banten, 9 in East Java 9, 7 in Central Java, and the rest recorded in other areas.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo declared a national public health emergency status on Tuesday and authorities have been conducting rapid tests in areas where cases were detected.
The government has turned the Wisma Atlet Kemayoran, the apartment towers in central Jakarta which were used to billet athletes competing in the 2018 Asian Games, into an emergency hospital, which will be able to treat as many as 24,000 patients.
