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View all search resultsLessons learned from Sitaro regency
The first confirmed case of COVID-19 was only recorded in the regency that comprises Siau, Tagulandang and Biaro islands, in June, after a resident who had just returned from the provincial capital of Manado tested positive for the deadly virus.
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W
ith the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping across the world and Indonesia, Siau Tagulandang Biaro (Sitaro) Islands regency in North Sulawesi has become a rare case of a region with a very low rate of infection.
The first confirmed case of COVID-19 was only recorded in the regency that comprises Siau, Tagulandang and Biaro islands, in June, after a resident who had just returned from the provincial capital of Manado tested positive for the deadly virus.
As of Thursday, the regency, which has a population of 73,584, had one COVID-19 patient under treatment, while 34 patients had recovered and one had died.
Meanwhile, North Sulawesi had recorded 4,868 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Thursday, with 185 fatalities.
According to Sitaro Regent Evangelian Sasingen, her strategy for keeping the region COVID-19-free until June was to impose preventive measures before the central government announced the first COVID-19 in Indonesia.
“At every entrance there were strict examinations. At the beginning, we didn’t have personal protective equipment, so we wore raincoats instead”, she said in a statement published on the national COVID-19 task force’s website on Thursday.
After the first case in the regency was announced, an infection cluster was detected at a market, prompting Evangelian to lock down the market temporarily while the area was disinfected.
