The Indonesian Health Ministry disease control and prevention directorate general has requested ministry-run hospitals provide it with data regarding cases of pneumonia and other respiratory diseases over concern that cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus remain undetected in the country.

In a copy of the letter seen by The Jakarta Post, which is dated Feb. 26, director-general Anung Sugihantono requested “vertical” hospitals -- those run by the Health Ministry -- to send data about the number of acute respiratory infection (ISPA) and pneumonia cases between Dec. 1, 2019 and Feb. 25.

He also requested data regarding the number of deaths caused by respiratory distress syndrome and pneumonia.

The contents of the letter were confirmed by the directorate general’s secretary, Achmad Yurianto, who said that it was written and issued merely in the interests of better data management.

“Usually hospitals send the report to the health service directorate general. We want to get the same report too so we can manage the data," he said. "The one in the health service directorate general is mixed up with other illnesses, so it takes a long time to map them."

Yurianto claimed that there had been no significant increase of pneumonia deaths in the past three months compared to the same period last year.

Earlier this month, Anung said the ministry was also actively looking into deaths from pneumonia, claiming there had been no significant increase in such deaths. However, he did not immediately provide corroborating data.

Indonesia has yet to identify any confirmed COVID-19 cases, but experts and foreign diplomats have raised concerns that cases may have gone undetected because of deficiencies in the country’s testing abilities.

Indonesia had tested 143 specimens as of Saturday, apart from the 188 World Dream cruise ship crew members who had started their two-week observation period on Sebaru Kecil Island, located near Jakarta, on Friday. The ministry is also planning to test the 69 Diamond Princess crew members previously quarantined in Japan, bringing the total number of tests close to 400.

The number, however, pales in comparison to those of other countries such as neighboring Malaysia (1,092 tests as of Feb. 24), although Yurianto claimed that the ministry's laboratory, the only laboratory in the country authorized to conduct the tests, could test up to 1,700 samples per day.