Breaking: The Australian government has taken the extraordinary step of withdrawing its ambassador to Indonesia for health reasons | jamesmassola
The Australian government has taken the extraordinary step of withdrawing its top diplomatic envoy to Jakarta because of the fast-spreading coronavirus.
The decision comes more than six weeks after the embassy imposed strict working from home measures to protect against the spread of the disease and began sending staff back to Australia.The death toll is the highest in south-east Asia but the number of infections is relatively low, reflecting the low number of tests that have been conducted and the standard of the country's health-care system.
About two-thirds of the 180 Australians who are part of the embassy's staff across the four posts, the vast majority of whom are in Jakarta, have now left the country. Hundreds of local staff are also working from home. It is rare for an ambassador to leave his or her post for any reason but Indonesia's response to the COVID-19 crisis has been poor.
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