Officials in Denpasar this week identified possible COVID-19 clusters across different traditional markets in the city, after a number of sellers at traditional markets tested positive for the coronavirus.
I Dewa Gede Rai, spokesman for the Denpasar COVID-19 Task Force, said contract tracing is tricky, especially to track buyers.
“We don’t know who has gone shopping or used their services. So we’re having a hard time tracing the market visitors,” Gede Rai said.
Health officials say there is at least one seller who tested positive in each of these markets in Denpasar: Pasar Pemeregan, Pasar Badung, Pasar Kumbasari, and Pasar Gunung Agung.
Market visitors who may have been in contact with these sellers are advised to report themselves to the Denpasar task force, and may be subject to rapid or swab tests.
“Those who feel like they have been in direct contact with the sellers who tested positive, must honestly report themselves and they will be tested, either rapid or swab,” Gede Rai said, adding that successful handling of COVID-19 is mostly determined by the public’s discipline and honesty.
“Especially because this is local transmission and we’re facing difficulties in contact tracing. Whether we realize it or not the virus is around us.”
For the time being, health officials said they have tested sellers whose stalls are located within a 10-meter radius of the confirmed COVID-19 patients, along with spraying disinfectants and further raising awareness about health protocols in the markets.
Locally transmitted cases — at 51.48 percent — now make up more than half of the total number of Bali’s COVID-19 cases, according to the latest official data. Denpasar city has been recording the highest spike in such cases, despite being the only region in the province to implement Restrictions on People’s Activities (PKM) protocol.
As of yesterday afternoon, Bali has confirmed 608 COVID-19 cases, including 409 recoveries and five deaths.
Read Also — Indonesia records highest daily COVID-19 cases spike yet, biggest jump confirmed in Jakarta
