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Four suspected to have COVID-19 after contact with Case 1: Health Ministry
The government would continue tracing people suspected of having been in contact with two confirmed patients to prevent the emergence of new subclusters.
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A security guard enters the COVID-19 observation post in the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Disease Hospital in North Jakarta on March 4. (Antara/Muhammad Adimaja/)
T
he Health Ministry has identified four individuals suspected of having been infected by the COVID-19 coronavirus after the ministry traced as many as 25 people who had contact with the country’s first two confirmed cases.
The ministry’s disease control and prevention directorate general secretary, Achmad Yurianto, said during a press briefing on Friday at noon that the four people had been in close contact with two confirmed patients, known as Case 1 and Case 2.
They attended the same dance as Case 1 in mid-February in Jakarta. Case 1 contracted the virus from a Japanese woman who tested positive in Malaysia in late February.
The four people, Yurianto said, were currently being observed at a hospital, adding that samples of their bodily fluids had been tested at the ministry’s laboratory. The results were expected on Friday afternoon.
“Their conditions are stable. Some of them suffer from cough and flu. Some also have a body temperature higher than 37 [degrees Celsius], […] meaning that they have a fever," said Yurianto, who also serves as the spokesperson for the management of the virus outbreak.
Meanwhile, he added that cases 1 and 2, who are undergoing treatment in isolation at the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Disease Hospital, were also in stable condition, although they still suffered from bouts of coughing.
Read also: We should thank Indonesia's COVID-19 'Case 1' instead of breaching her privacy
Doctors have taken samples of their bodily fluids to be tested again. The results were likewise expected on Friday afternoon, the spokesperson said.
The government planned to continue tracing people suspected of having been in contact with the first two confirmed patients in order to prevent the emergence of new subclusters.
"So, from the Jakarta cluster, it is very possible that there will be subclusters. The four people suspected [of having COVID-19] belong to different groups. From the dancing group, they went home and came into contact with their other groups. We're tracing [these groups]. Hopefully we can trace them all," he said.
Yurianto said the ministry would observe the 10 people identified to be part of the Jakarta cluster. He claimed the 10 people did not complain of any symptoms related to COVID-19, but the ministry would continue observing them to ensure there had been no transmission.
Indonesia had tested 227 samples from people as of Thursday evening. Of the total number of samples tested, two were found to be positive, 13 were still awaiting results, with their providers in isolation at various hospitals, while the rest came out negative. (ars)
