After denial, Indonesia sees mounting Covid-19 deaths

Indonesian Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto talking to the media at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia in this Feb 15, 2020, file photo. - AP

JAKARTA (AP): While Indonesia’s neighbours scrambled early this year to try to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the government of the world’s fourth most populous nation insisted that everything was fine.

In speeches, Indonesia’s health minister, Terawan Agus Putranto, told his country's people that they shouldn’t fear the virus, even as tens of thousands around the world were being infected.