The first people to be diagnosed with COVID-19 in Indonesia are making inroads towards recovery, officials say, as they enter the third day of medical quarantine.
The two patients — a mother and her daughter — are currently being treated at the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital in Sunter, North Jakarta, where they had been transferred to since they were suspected of the novel coronavirus infection on Mar. 1.
“Thank God, the two coronavirus patients are getting better,” Sulianti Saroso Director Mohammad Syahril said today, as quoted by Kompas.
“They no longer have fever, only minor coughs. They don’t have difficulty breathing, and they’re eating fine.”
Mohammad explained that the patients are set to undergo further COVID-19 testing in the coming days. Should they test negative, they will have to undergo several more screening processes before they could be cleared for discharge.
Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto yesterday said the two patients are a 64-year-old woman and her 31-year-old daughter, both of whom live in the same house in Depok, which is situated on the outskirts of Jakarta.
The daughter is a dance instructor who went to an event at an undisclosed dance club in Jakarta on Feb. 14. There, she danced with her friend, a Japanese national who lives in Malaysia but was in town that day.
On Feb. 16, the daughter received outpatient care at an undisclosed hospital after complaining of severe coughs. The coughing persisted for more than a week, and on Feb. 28 she received a phone call from her Japanese friend that the latter had tested positive for the novel coronavirus and was being treated in Malaysia.
On Feb. 29, the daughter alerted local health officials about her phone call. She, along with her mother, were taken to the Sulianti Saroso, where they were placed in quarantine. They both tested positive for the coronavirus on Mar. 2.
After weeks of claiming it was free of infections and shielded by prayer, Indonesia finally announced its first coronavirus cases yesterday amid growing reports elsewhere involving patients who recently visited the archipelago. Several new cases reported in Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore in the last few days have involved patients who recently traveled to Indonesia.
