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Several patients contracted COVID-19 despite 'never leaving home': Task force
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Pickup: A COVID-19 patient waits for an ambulance that will take him to the COVID-19 hospital in the former athletes village of Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, on Sept. 10. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
H
ealth authorities suspect that several patients currently in treatment at the Wisma Atlet COVID-19 hospital in Jakarta contracted the coronavirus from family members, because they had mostly remained at home since the outbreak began.
National COVID-19 Task Force head Doni Monardo said around 7 percent of patients told medical personnel that they had rarely or never left home prior to their treatment at the provisional hospital.
He added that medical workers suspected they had caught the virus from family members going about activities outside of their home without properly protecting themselves.
“They then became carriers [of the SARS-CoV-2 virus] that eventually infected the other family members,” Doni said during a webinar on Saturday, as quoted by kompas.com.
Read also: Asymptomatic coronavirus carriers have high viral loads: Study
The retired army general urged people to strictly adhere to health protocols, such as by wearing face masks and keeping a safe distance from others, to prevent contracting COVID-19.
On Friday, at least 1,929 COVID-19 patients were receiving treatment at the Wisma Atlet hospital, according to data from the task force. Around 1,000 others were in self-isolation at Tower 5 of the complex, which served as the athletes village for the Asian Games.
Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said he had ordered joint forces of military and police personnel to monitor the enforcement of health protocol across the country.
Luhut had been tasked by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo with suppressing COVID-19 transmission nationwide amid the recent increase in the number of confirmed cases. (vny)
