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COVID-19: More Indonesian travelers test virus positive abroad
A 64-year-old man in Singapore became the third Indonesian to contract the virus in the city state and an Indonesian woman in her 50s is being treated in an Australian hospital.
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A pedestrian walking a dog passes a group of people working out in a field at the Marina Bay financial district in Singapore, on Feb. 12. The coronavirus outbreak rocked Singapore's financial district after an infection at the country’s biggest bank prompted it to evacuate 300 workers. (Bloomberg/ Ore Huiying/)
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ndonesian travelers have become the latest group of Indonesians who contracted the novel coronavirus abroad, as the government confirmed reports that its citizens have tested positive for the virus in Singapore and Australia.
A 64-year-old Indonesian man in Singapore has been diagnosed with COVID-19, but it is likely he contracted the virus outside of the island nation, the Indonesian embassy has stated, confirming an earlier announcement from the Singaporean government.
The Singapore Ministry of Health announced on Sunday that the man, identified as Case 147, had just arrived in the city-state on Saturday and tested positive for the virus on Sunday.
"It is not yet known how the Indonesian citizen contracted the COVID-19 [virus], but the Singapore Ministry of Health has said that this case is an imported case, meaning that the [man] is likely to have been infected before [arriving in] Singapore," the embassy said in a statement on Monday.
The embassy also said it would be monitoring the situation closely and coordinate with the relevant local authorities on all matters regarding the patient.
Case 147 is the third Indonesian to be diagnosed with COVID-19 in Singapore.
The first Indonesian case is a 44-year-old domestic worker whose test results came back positive on Feb. 4, along with the positive test results of her employer, a Singaporean national. The woman has since recovered and has been discharged from hospital.
The second case is a 62-year-old woman who entered Singapore on a social visit permit and had no travel history to countries or territories affected by COVID-19. She tested positive on March 6.
Previously, nine Diamond Princess crewmen were diagnosed with the virus in Japan, while an Indonesian domestic worker in Taiwan tested positive. Six, all from Diamond Princess, have recovered from the disease.
Meanwhile in Australia, an Indonesian woman in her 50s was declared as the 12th case of COVID-19 in Victoria on Sunday.
The Health Ministry’s Disease Control and Prevention Director General Achmad Yurianto, who just got promoted on Monday from the secretary of the directorate general to the director general itself, said his ministry had coordinated with Indonesian representatives in Australia and found that the patient had traveled in many places in Australia.
“The patient’s travel records are rather long. From Jakarta, she has visited many places including a Vietnamese restaurant where many Southeast Asian people come to eat,” he told reporters on Monday.
He said she tested positive for the virus but that her condition was stable and she was being treated in a health facility in Australia. According to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, 76 people have been tested positive for COVID-19.
Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services has advised anyone who visited the restaurant on 6 March between 6-7pm to seek advice from the COVID-19 hotline.
“We believe that she did not contract the virus in Indonesia,” Achmad said.
