JAKARTA: Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Tuesday (March 24) the government was preparing to hand out 10 trillion rupiah (US$607mil) in aid to citizens who had lost work due to the Covid-19 (coronavirus) outbreak.



"The health of our citizens is our first priority and for that we are preparing a social safety net," Joko told reporters, urging provincial governments to start collecting data on those eligible for the handouts.



The Health Ministry on Tuesday reported 107 new cases of coronavirus bringing the number of confirmed cases to 686.



Seven further virus-related deaths were reported, bringing the country's death toll to 55, said ministry spokesman Achmad Irianto.



The capital, Jakarta, remains Indonesia’s coronavirus epicentre, with 424 cases. Thirty-one people have so far died of the virus in the city of 10 million people.



Joko has so far ruled out imposing a lockdown, saying that voluntary social distancing would be enough to contain the outbreak. - dpa/Asian News Network

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