The Health Ministry confirmed two new novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases on Friday.

The new cases were detected after the ministry traced at least 20 people who had contact with the country’s first two confirmed cases, identified only as Case 1 and Case 2.

“After the contact tracing, we found seven people. We took them to the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Disease Hospital for observation and isolation because they showed physical symptoms associated with influenza such as coughing and mild fever,” the ministry’s disease control and prevention directorate general secretary, Achmad Yurianto, told journalists on Friday.

“Among the seven people, we have confirmed that two of them are positive for COVID-19, which we will call Case 3 and Case 4,” he added.

Yurianto, who also serves as the spokesperson for the management of the virus outbreak, declined to reveal the genders of the two new confirmed cases. However, he explained that the two new patients were 32 and 34 years old.

“Their body temperatures are around 37 to 37.6 degrees Celsius. They suffer from coughing and sniffles, but no symptoms of shortness of breath. We hope their condition can improve after our intervention,” Yurianto said.

He also declined to identify the location where both patients were possibly infected. “One thing for sure, they don’t live in the same house.”

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo announced on Monday the country’s first two confirmed COVID-19 cases: a 64-year-old and her 31-year-old daughter. They are currently undergoing treatment in isolation at the Sulianti Saroso Hospital. (kuk)

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