The Bali Health Agency says it’s observing and waiting on test results for nine people who are suspected to be infected with the novel coronavirus.
Ketut Suarjaya, who heads the agency, said yesterday that eight of the patients are at the Sanglah General Hospital in Denpasar, while one patient is at Sanjiwani Hospital in Gianyar regency, as reported by state news agency Antara.
The tests are being run by the Health Ministry’s Health Research and Development Agency (Balitbangkes).
“The results will come out gradually. Usually we would receive it in two or three days, but it takes longer now because there are more and more patients being observed from different parts of Indonesia,” Suarjaya said.
As of yesterday, Suarjaya said a total of 47 people have so far been observed in Bali, 38 of whom have tested negative for COVID-19.
Despite testing negative for the novel coronavirus, the patients are reportedly still being treated in Bali hospitals to make sure that they recover from their respective illnesses, Suarjaya added.
Indonesia today confirmed the country’s first COVID-19 death, a 53-year-old foreign woman identified as Case 25.
Achmad Yurianto, Indonesia’s spokesperson for COVID-19 related matters, said that Case 25 had pre-existing illnesses, namely diabetes, hypertension, and obstructive pulmonary disease and was part of the latest batch of confirmed cases in the country.
Officials did not disclose specific details about the more recently confirmed cases, such as where they are located, leading to emerging, unconfirmed speculations among the public that some of them might have originated from Bali.
When asked about this issue, Suarjaya noted again that there are no positive cases from the island.
“There was no mention of the location, why would they be said to be from Bali? No such thing, right? Outside of Jakarta but we don’t know where. I have not been given official information either,” Suarjaya said, adding that health monitoring across entry points on the island, including Ngurah Rai International Airport, remains strict.
