"Three of them recently traveled to Malaysia and one of them has just returned from Bali," Wahidin said on Thursday, citing information from the Baten Provincial Health Agency.

He said the four patients were being treated in Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital (RSPI Sulianti Saroso) and Persahabatan General Hospital in Jakarta, kompas.com reported.

The governor, however, did not elaborate on the details of the two people, including their age and gender, as well as their date of departure and return from the neighboring Southeast Asian country and Bali.

Wahidin also did not mention whether the two were among the 34 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported by the central government in Indonesia so far.

Prior to providing the updated information, the governor uploaded on Thursday a video on his Instagram account @wh_wahidinhalim and his official Facebook page, H. Wahidin Halim, in which he confirmed that at least two Banten residents who had recently traveled to Malaysia had tested positive for COVID-19.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dengan semakin mewabahnya virus corona ke Indonesia maka saya menghimbau kepada seluruh masyarakat Banten dimanapun berada. Sebaiknya hindari tempat-tempat keramaian sebagai salah satu bentuk antisipasi. Tetap waspada dan jaga pola hidup sehat. Semoga Allah SWT senantiasa melindungi kita semua. . . Hubungi Dinas Kesehatan Provinsi Banten di nomor 085215779659 jika membutuhkan informasi seputar Virus Corona.

A post shared by Dr. H. Wahidin Halim, M.Si (@wh_wahidinhalim) on Mar 12, 2020 at 3:51am PDT

The neighboring Southeast Asian country has 149 confirmed COVID-19 cases to date, as reported by the John Hopkins University.

Wahidin further called for Banten residents not to panic and to avoid mass gatherings in public places. "Be cautious and avoid crowded places so we can prevent ourselves from getting infected by the coronavirus."

The confirmation from the Banten governor came amid criticism against the central government, which has continued with its opaque manner of providing information on confirmed coronavirus cases in Indonesia, including on the country's first COVID-19 fatality, a 53-year-old foreign woman known as Case 25.

 It was later confirmed that Case 25 -- reported by British media that she was from the United Kingdom -- died in Bali, but local authorities said they were only informed after her death that she had tested positive for the disease.

The government’s spokesperson for COVID-19, Achmad Yurianto, who is also the Health Ministry’s director general for disease control and prevention, has refused to disclose the location of each patient and their nationality if they were foreigners as he insisted that only the tracing team needed the information.

When asked about the Banten governor's announcement, Yurianto said on Thursday that he had never heard the information and instead questioned where Wahidin had obtained the data from.

"We have never conveyed data [about the COVID-19 patients] to the governor. The data are submitted to the health agency for tracing purposes." Yurianto said.

However, he opened the possibility that the two patients to whom Wahidin referred might be among those treated in Jakarta, but were actually residents of Tangerang in Banten who commuted to the capital every day.

"There is a possibility. However, we never give [the data] to [regional] administration's authorities," he said.

Indonesia had recorded 34 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of Thursday, three of which have since recovered after receiving isolation treatment. Meanwhile, two patients admitted to the hospital for exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms died on Thursday.

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