No obligation to inform regional governments results of suspected COVID-19 patients, Indonesian official says

Achmad Yurianto, the official spokesperson for COVID-19-related matters in Indonesia, said the central government is not obliged to inform regional governments about the test results of suspected patients ⁠— following what initially seemed like a breakdown in communication yesterday surrounding the country’s first recorded death to the novel coronavirus, who was a patient in Bali. 

“The doctor in charge of the patient was aware. If the doctor is not aware then he will not be able to determine the protocol for treatment or why the patient must be isolated,” Achmad told reporters in Jakarta yesterday, as quoted by Kompas. 

“As soon as the lab confirmed that [the patient] tested positive then the doctor will be informed right away and will immediately speak to the patient,” he continued. 

Indonesia announced the country’s first recorded death to COVID-19 yesterday, a 53-year-old woman who local officials in Bali later confirmed was a patient at the Sanglah General Hospital in Denpasar. 

The patient, who is identified as Case 25 in the country, is a British national. She reportedly entered the country on Feb. 29 via Ngurah Rai International Airport and had passed her temperature check upon arrival. She later contracted a fever on March 3 and was treated at an undisclosed hospital until March 9, before moving to Sanglah General Hospital because she had not shown signs of recovery. 

Dewa Made Indra, regional secretary for Bali province, told reporters in Denpasar yesterday that the provincial government was only notified that Case 25 had tested positive for the coronavirus after she died. 

Achmad had included Case 25 in a list of infected patients in the country during a press conference on Tuesday evening, hours before she passed away at Sanglah. The patient reportedly had pre-existing illnesses, namely diabetes, hypertension and obstructive pulmonary disease. 

“The doctor did not communicate [the result] with the regional government because there is no obligation to inform the regional government, so there’s no problem there,” Achmad said yesterday. 

Achmad has not revealed the locations of confirmed cases in Indonesia, except for the first few cases: a small cluster in Jakarta. The country now has 34 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including Case 25 and four patients who have tested negative for the coronavirus.