Exclusive: Jump in Jakarta funerals raises fears of unreported coronavirus deaths

FILE PHOTO: Workers carry the coffin of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) victim at the Pondok Ranggon funeral area in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 30, 2020 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Muhammad Adimaja via REUTERS

JAKARTA (Reuters) - The number of funerals in Jakarta rose sharply in March, a development the governor of Indonesia's capital city said suggested that deaths from the new coronavirus may be higher than officially reported.

Nearly 4,400 burials occurred in March, 40 percent higher than any month since at least January, 2018, according to a Reuters review of statistics from the city's Department of Parks and Cemeteries. The second-highest total during that period was March 2019, when nearly 3,100 people were buried.