Indonesian authorities have defended their handling of the coronavirus epidemic after Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison cast significant doubt over Indonesia’s claim to be free of the virus.

The country - home to about 270 million people - has tested just 136 people and all the results have been negative.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Neighbouring countries including Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Australia all have populations that are orders of magnitude smaller than Indonesia’s and have conducted - at a minimum - ten times more tests.

Morrison told radio station 3AW the claim of zero infections in Indonesia was “a function of their capability to test”.