Indonesia becomes Asian Covid hotspot after reporting 54,000 cases

Used gloves belonging to a relative are left at the grave of a Covid-19 victim at a cemetery in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia (Achmad Ibrahim/AP)

Indonesia reported more than 54,000 new coronavirus cases for the first time on Wednesday, surpassing recent daily infections in India, whose disastrous outbreak is declining, and becoming Asia’s new virus hotspot.

Officials fear that the more highly transmissible Delta variant is now spreading from the islands of Java and Bali, where outbreaks prompted a partial lockdown that closed places of worship, shopping centres, parks and restaurants.