TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Bali quarantines nine foreign tourists who sat next to NZ COVID-19 patient in airplane
Bali Health Agency head Ketut Suarjaya said that all nine people appeared healthy and that the agency had taken samples from them for testing.
Change Size
Indonesian health officials check the body temperature of a foreign tourist traveling from Bali at Bangsal Port, Pemenang Lombok Island, on Feb. 12. (AFP/Moh El Sasaky)
B
alinese health authorities have quarantined nine foreign tourists who were on Emirates flight EK450 from Dubai to Bali after it was found that they sat near a New Zealander who later tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
"We traced the passengers sitting behind, next to and in front of the New Zealand patient,” Bali Health Agency head Ketut Suarjaya said on Tuesday. “They are staying at three different hotels in Bali.”
He said that all nine people appeared healthy and that the agency had taken samples from them for testing. The agency will keep the tourists under observation for the next 14 days.
"We've taken the samples and we asked all [nine tourists] to limit their activities. All of them are foreigners, so we quarantined them in their hotels," he said.
Last week, New Zealand reported its first coronavirus case of a female citizen in her 60s who traveled from Tehran, Iran, to Auckland via Bali.
The New Zealand resident traveled using Emirates flight EK450 on Feb. 26. The New Zealand Health Ministry through its Twitter account urged passengers who traveled on the same flight to immediately contact authorities if they were concerned.
Ketut said his agency was also investigating a report that an Australian resident had tested positive for COVID-19 after flying from Iran to Melbourne via Bali on Friday.
"We haven't received the report from Australian authorities. However, we've collected the manifest data,” he said. “The Bali Port Health Authority has also collected data from health alert cards.” (nal)
