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Kediri woman showing coronavirus symptoms under observation after return from South Korea
The woman had traveled to South Korea early last month to visit her newborn grandchild and returned to Kediri on Thursday. She soon began complaining of a fever and a sore throat.
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A clinical pathologist examines a sample of the novel coronavirus at a laboratory in Juanda, Sidoarjo, East Java. (Antara/Umarul Faruq)
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52-year-old woman from Kediri, East Java, is under observation at the isolation ward of Iskak Public Hospital in Tulungagung after showing symptoms consistent with the novel coronavirus.
"She will stay in our isolation room until she is proven to be [coronavirus] negative. We hope that she is negative,” hospital director Supriyanto told reporters on Saturday.
Identified as YM, the woman had traveled to South Korea early last month to visit her newborn grandchild and returned to Kediri on Thursday. She soon began complaining of a fever and a sore throat.
She was treated for bronco-pneumonia at a hospital in Kediri but was transferred to Iskak Hospital as the latter has been appointed by the government to handle patients showing symptoms of the novel coronavirus in the western part of East Java.
“Her recent visit to a country exposed to the virus outbreak is what led us to take these measures," Supriyanto said.
According to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE), South Korea had 25 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Sunday.
Supriyanto said the hospital wanted to stay on the side of caution by putting patients showing even only some symptoms under observation.
He added that the hospital would take samples of YM's throat mucus as soon as possible and send it to the Health Ministry's laboratory in Jakarta for testing.
Meanwhile, the hospital’s lung disease specialist, Muhammad Arfi, said that YM’s temperature had decreased to 37 degrees Celsius and the pain in her throat had also abated.
Tulungagung Health Agency official Didik Eka told The Jakarta Post on Sunday that YM's mucus sample would be taken on Monday and sent to Jakarta right away.
He said the agency had also been monitoring a female migrant worker who had returned home from Taiwan late last month and complained of having a high fever a week later.
"We will check her condition and body temperature every day for up to 14 days from Feb. 4," he said.
Despite the rising number of coronavirus cases worldwide, Indonesia has yet to confirm a single case of coronavirus in the country as of the time of writing.
