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COVID-19: Indonesia confirms fifth death, 96 positive cases
Health Ministry’s disease control and prevention director general Achmad Yurianto said authorities had detected 27 new positive cases as of Saturday. The ministry also recorded one new death.
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The Health Ministry's disease control and prevention director general Achmad Yurianto, also the government's spokesperson for all coronavirus-related matters, speaks during a press briefing at the Presidential Office in Jakarta on March 11, 2020. (Antara/Sigid Kurniawan)
Indonesian health authorities confirmed Saturday that the number of positive COVID-19 cases in the country had increased to 96, with the total number of fatalities having reached five.
The Health Ministry’s disease control and prevention director general Achmad Yurianto said authorities had detected 27 new positive cases as of Saturday. The ministry also recorded one new death.
“The results were obtained after we conducted a massive [contact] tracing,” said Yurianto, who also serves as the government’s spokesperson for all coronavirus-related matters, during a press briefing in Jakarta on Saturday.
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Yurianto, however, did not disclose the identities of the new confirmed cases or the deceased patient.
He claimed that the ministry had received 300 test samples as of Saturday. The ministry previously stated they had prepared 10,000 coronavirus test kits to be disbursed to laboratories in universities and research agencies.
When asked about the possibility of putting Indonesia under lockdown, Yurianto said that was not an option: “It’s not an option at this moment.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged the government to declare a national state of emergency to scale up emergency response mechanisms to contain and prevent the spread of COVID-19.
