Indonesia has confirmed 35 new COVID-19 cases in the country, bringing the total number of domestic infections to 69, including four patients who have died from the viral disease.
Achmad Yurianto, Indonesia’s spokesperson for COVID-19-related matters, announced the latest update at a press conference in Jakarta this evening. The official said that the recent cases were identified after tracing contacts of the previously confirmed patients in the past two days.
“The government has decided that starting from Monday, laboratorium tests will not only be conducted at the Health Ministry’s Health Research and Development Agency [Balitbangkes],” Achmad said, adding that several facilities across the country will be able to conduct the tests, including Airlangga University in Surabaya.
“In anticipating everything, contact tracing is the most important thing to do so that we can identify [cases] quickly, locate and isolate positive cases so that it will not spread in the community … The patients [we’ve just announced] were the result of tracing,” he said.
Achmad said that the newly traced patients were from “regions,” but stopped short from disclosing their specific locations. In addition, the government said they have received more than 10,000 test kits.
President Joko Widodo earlier today emphasized that the government is taking “serious steps” to address the coronavirus pandemic that has affected at least 117 countries across the globe.
As reported by CNN Indonesia, the president reaffirmed that the government continues to step up both readiness and resilience in handling the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.
“We have taken serious steps, [though] at the same time we do not want to create panic, nor do we want to cause concern among the people,” he said.
Jokowi also said he has yet to consider a lockdown as an option for the time being.
“Not yet, [we have yet] to think of taking that measure,” Jokowi said, as quoted by Kompas.
Several countries have already implemented a nationwide lockdown, including Italy and Denmark, while the Philippines has just announced travel restrictions of Metro Manila beginning March 15.
Indonesia announced its first death to COVID-19 on Wednesday, a 53-year-old British woman who died in Sanglah General Hospital in Denpasar.
The second patient to die from the viral disease in Indonesia was reportedly a patient at Dr Moewardi Regional General Hospital in Surakarta, Central Java, who reportedly tested positive for the novel coronavirus and had also died on Wednesday. However, the positive COVID-19 death had only been officially confirmed today by Achmad Yurianto, as reported by Kompas.
It is not clear which case number has been attributed to the Surakarta patient.
Achmad said local health authorities in Solo are tracing his travel history and close contacts, seemingly suggesting that his positive result only came back after his death, though this has yet to be confirmed.
According to reports, the deceased at Dr Moewardi Hospital was admitted on Sunday evening and had respiratory failure upon arrival. He’d complained of common cold symptoms upon returning from a seminar in Bogor, West Java that was held between Feb. 25 and 28. The deceased reportedly attended the event with another patient, who is currently in isolation.
