Jakarta (VNA) - Indonesian authoritiessaid on July 13 that the country is planning to impose sanctions against violatorsof health protocols amid the COVID-19 pandemic in order totighten the public discipline which President JokoWidodo assessed is still low.
Earlier, at a cabinet meetingon the same day, President Joko Widodo asked cabinet members to considerimposing sanctions against health protocol violators.
ThePresident called for priority given to dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic ineight provinces, including East Java, Jakarta, West Java, South Sulawesi,Central Java, North Sumatra and Papua.
He also urged speeding up testing by preparing more mobile and fixedlaboratories in localities, with the goal of increasing the number ofpolymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests from the current 20,000 to 30,000 perday.
Accordingto the Indonesian Ministry of Health, in the past 24 hours, the countryrecorded an additional 1,282 COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number ofpeople infected with the coronavirus to 76,981, including 3,656 deaths.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Ministry of Health announced that 846 more casesof COVID-19 and 65 related deaths were recorded in the country on the day,bringing the total number of coronavirus infections to 57,006, including 1,599fatalities.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines has tripled since PresidentRodrigo Duterte eased lockdown measures in the capital Manila in June to recoverthe economy./.