Indonesia confirms new cases and calls for calm – National

The Ministry of Health announced on Friday that two new cases of COVID-19 linked to the first two confirmed cases had been registered, prompting the government to work more quickly to find those who were in contact with infected patients in order to Avoid massive contagion.

The new cases were detected after the ministry found around 20 people who had been in contact with a woman and her mother – identified as Cases 1 and Case 2 – who contracted the virus after the girl visited a restaurant in Jakarta and participated in a dance event which was also attended by an infected Japanese tourist.

“We found seven suspected carriers. We took them to the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Disease Hospital for observation and isolation because they had physical symptoms associated with the flu, such as coughing and a slight fever, "the secretary general of the Department of Disease Control and Prevention, Achmad Yurianto.

"Of the seven, two tested positive for COVID-19, which we will call cases 3 and 4," he added.

Yurianto, who also serves as a government spokesperson for his management of the virus epidemic, declined to reveal the gender of the two new confirmed cases. However, he explained that the two new patients were 32 and 34 years old.

“Their body temperature is between 37 and 37.6 degrees Celsius. They suffer from coughs and sniffles, but show no signs of shortness of breath. We hope their condition will improve after our intervention, "said Yurianto.

He also refused to identify where the patients may have been infected, saying only that "One thing is for sure, they don't live in the same house."

The government has called for calm, saying most cases of illness are mild, including cases 1 and 2.

The two patients – a 64-year-old woman and her 31-year-old daughter – are currently on isolated treatment at the Sulianti Suroso Infectious Disease Hospital (RSPI Sulianti Suroso) and are reported to be in stable condition.

“They are generally in good condition. (…) Nowadays, al Hamdulillah (Praise be to God), they no longer have a fever, "said RSPI President Mohammad Syahril, adding that the patients' shortness of breath and cough had also improved.

"The two can do other activities, they can eat alone without being fed, they can change clothes and go to the bathroom without the help of family or nurses."

The government plans to continue to search for those suspected of having contacts with Cases 1 and 2, now classified as a single cluster, in order to prevent the emergence of new sub-clusters.

Yurianto said the ministry would observe the people identified in the first cluster. He explained that although not everyone complained of symptoms related to COVID-19, the ministry would continue to monitor them to make sure that transmission did not occur.

Indonesia tested 227 samples Thursday evening, two of which tested positive. Health officials are awaiting the results of 13 samples, with providers kept in solitary confinement in various hospitals, while the rest have tested negative.

At least five suspected coronavirus patients have died, although four have been confirmed negative for the disease.

Bayu Krisnamurthi, who chaired the National Committee for Avian Influenza Control and Pandemic Preparedness between 2006 and 2010, said the situation was still under control as the new cases were linked to the first two cases.

"It would be more serious if community transmission occurs, which means that a person was infected without having been in contact with confirmed patients with coronavirus and without a history of travel to countries experiencing epidemics of COVID-19 ", did he declare.

However, Syahrizal Syarief, an epidemiology expert at the University of Indonesia, said the government was not doing enough to contain the contagion.

Syarief, who is also a member of a task force of experts created by the government to manage its efforts to contain severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003, argued that there were 71 medical workers at Mitra Keluarga hospital who could also have had close contact with the first two cases.

Cases 1 and 2 went to Mitra Keluarga hospital on February 27, where they were diagnosed with bronchitis.

"From the start, I said that the 71 people who had a history of contact with Cases 1 and 2 should be quarantined and tested even if they had no symptoms because they were clearly at risk (of 39; infection), "he said.

Also on Friday, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo released a video on the virus in which he gave advice on how to avoid infection. The video was part of government efforts to calm the public as panic purchases begin to take hold.

The president said the biggest enemy was not the virus, but the fear triggered by false information.

The government has stepped up efforts to contain the virus by assigning labs under the Ministry of Health to perform throat swab tests and expanding the criteria for people who should be tested for the disease.

On Thursday, the government announced new travel restrictions for people with a travel history in the coronavirus affected areas in Iran, South Korea and Italy following a sharp increase in COVID cases -19 worldwide. Mainland China was the first country to face a travel ban.

According to the John Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, 100,330 people were infected in at least 83 countries by Friday, with 80,556 confirmed cases and 3,042 deaths recorded in China. Outside mainland China, there have been 19,774 confirmed cases with 366 deaths, the majority of victims having been recorded in Italy with 148 deaths, followed by Iran with 124.