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Blockade or semi-lockdown? West Java awaits rapid COVID-19 test results to decide next move
West Java is currently conducting rapid COVID-10 tests on about 20,000 individuals in the province.
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West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil (left) and Home Minister Tito Karnavian (right) speak during a press conference in Ridwan's office in Bandung, West Java, on March 18. (Antara/Novrian Arbi)
T
he West Java administration is still awaiting the results of the rapid mass testing for COVID-19 currently being conducted in the region before deciding what actions to take next to contain the spread of the respiratory disease.
"We will subsequently create a disease distribution map from the test results. The map will then direct us to the next path, whether there will be an isolation, blockade or semi-lockdown," West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil said on Friday.
He said he expected that the results would come out by the end of the week.
West Java is currently conducting rapid COVID-10 tests on about 20,000 individuals in the province who are divided into three categories.
Category A includes people under surveillance (ODP), patients under treatment (PDP) and medical personnel. Meanwhile, people in category B are professionals who have to interact with a large number of people, such as public officials and staff at airports and bus and train terminals.
Read also: Indonesia to issue lockdown regulation as COVID-19 cases continue to soar
The last category includes citizens who show COVID-19 symptoms of fever, cough, diarrhea and shortness of breath, among other things.
"What we are doing today is following the South Korean method of doing extensive tests. Hopefully, we can do things right with the upcoming new map," Ridwan said.
Before exercising the rapid mass testing, the administration had conducted the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests on 500 people. Ten of them tested positive, including three high ranking West Java officials, namely Bogor Mayor Bima Arya, Bandung deputy mayor Yana Mulyana and Karawang Regent Cellica Nurrachadiana.
Dozens of reporters who have contact history with Yana were tested during the current rapid test period, as instructed by Bandung Mayor Oded M. Danial. All of them tested negative, Bandung administration spokesman Sony Teguh Prasatya confirmed.
According to the central government, West Java recorded 98 positive COVID-19 cases as of Friday, with 14 fatalities. (vny)
