Death toll of COVID-19 in Indonesia surpasses 50
Jakarta/ Xinhua/UNI: The total number of deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia surpassed 50 by 1200 hrs local time on Tuesday, according to the Indonesian government.
At a press conference, the government's spokesperson for all coronavirus-related matters Achmad Yurianto said that a total of 55 people have died of the coronavirus, and 686 cases were confirmed in the archipelagic country.
Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous nation and its capital city Jakarta, which is home to some 10 million people, suffered the most deaths in the country as the virus has claimed 31 lives.
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 to treat COVID-19 patients.
The hospital, which started operation on Monday, will have a capacity to treat as many as 24,000 patients, said Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
Earlier, the president said two islands, the Sebaru island on the Java Sea in the northern part of Jakarta and the Galang island in the Riau Islands, will be used to quarantine and observe people infected with the virus starting on March 28.
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