Indonesia hits new record in daily COVID-19 fatalities

Indonesia reported 346 more deaths from COVID-19 on Thursday, a new daily record in fatalities since the start of the pandemic.

The nationwide death toll now stands at 27,203, according to latest data released by the COVID-19 task force.

A further 11,703 infections over the past day increased the country's caseload to 951,651, including 772,790 recoveries.

A total of 151,658 COVID-19 patients are under treatment or in quarantine, while 79,418 people are being monitored for suspected infections.

The positivity rate in Indonesia has hit 26.7%, much higher than the World Health Organization's pandemic control standard of 5%.

A majority of the new cases -- 3,151 -- were in the capital Jakarta, followed by Central Java province with 1,976 and West Java province with 1,228.

The government has decided to extend restrictions in Java and Bali until Feb. 8.

The decision was taken as infections have continued to rise despite measures imposed since Jan. 11, according to the Committee for COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery.

"Based on the evaluation, the president decided that the restrictions on community activities will be extended to Feb. 8," Airlangga Hartarto, chairman of the committee, said in a news conference.

Under government guidelines, all academic activities must be carried out online, while offices must enforce a work-from-home policy and can only have a maximum of 25% of employees in workplaces.

Shopping centers will have to close by 8 p.m. loca time (1300GMT), while restaurants are only allowed to operate at 25% of their seating capacity.

Places of worship are required to limit attendance to no more than 50% of their maximum capacity.

However, essential sectors, including logistics and construction, are allowed to operate with strict health protocols.