Jakarta opens shops and transport services despite Indonesia’s biggest daily spike in coronavirus infections

Transport services, shops and restaurants were back up and running in the Indonesia capital on Monday. Offices in Jakarta, the epicenter of the country’s outbreak, were operating with limits on employee numbers.

Restrictions were eased further despite the country posting its biggest daily spike in coronavirus infections two days earlier.

Indonesia’s main stock index gained up to 2.5 percent and hit its highest in three months on Monday as investors cheered the resumption of more business activities.

However, the country remains the worst-hit in East Asia outside China, with 32,033 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and 1,883 deaths, Reuters reports. Indonesia has had no national lockdown and cities have been allowed to impose restrictions, though not all are strictly followed.