Indonesia reports 1,904 new coronavirus cases as capital city extends restrictions

Indonesia's capital of Jakarta extended its "transitional" social restrictions on Thursday to curb coronavirus transmission, said its governor, as the Southeast Asian country reported 1,904 new infections, Health Ministry data showed.

Governor Anies Baswedan told a streamed briefing on Thursday evening that the large-scale social restrictions, which have seen schools closed and restaurants or public transportation operate at limited capacity, will be extended for the third time, to Aug. 13.

"Data shows that there is a hike in cases in Jakarta, and there has not been any improvement from two weeks ago to right now," he said, adding that there had been clusters found in offices in the capital.

Jakarta, a city of 10 million, reported 397 new coronavirus cases, according to central government data, bringing the total of infections in the city to 20,969, the second largest in the Southeast Asian nation.

Indonesia has reported a total of 106,336 coronavirus cases, the biggest in East Asia. The number of deaths in Indonesia related to COVID-19 rose by 83 on Thursday, bringing the total number of fatalities to 5,058, also the biggest in East Asia.