TEMPO.CO, Denpasar - Bali Health Agency rebutted an issue that there was a coronavirus case in the province. This statement was made in response to reports that a Japanese man has tested positive for the virus or Covid-19 after visiting the island.

The tourist reportedly stayed in Kuta and returned on Thursday, Feb. 20. “Bali is safe. There is no confirmed case,” said the province’s Health Agency Head Ketut Suarjaya on Thursday, Feb. 27.

Ketut elaborated that the 68-year-old man arrived in Bali with his four family members and stayed for four days from February 15 to 19.

On Sunday, Feb. 23, as he returned to Japan, the man was confirmed to have contracted the virus. “So possibly, he was not infected in Bali. Perhaps during his time here, [the virus] is in the incubation period of about three to seven days,” Ketut said. The four others were tested negative.

According to Ketut, the China virus could be transmitted during the incubation period. In this case, he opined that the four family members were in good condition during their sojourn in Bali. “They were not detected to have a fever at the airport. Yet the person who tested positive for the coronavirus could have possibly taken medicine,” he added.

Following the report from the Japanese government, Ketut recalled that his staffers had checked the hotel where he stayed. “We had also screened hotel workers, room boys, receptionists, and tour guides. All of them have tested negative, no symptoms of the coronavirus,” Ketut said.

Bali Health Agency had kept monitoring the hotel and places the Japanese tourist visited in a bid to anticipate a possible case. The agency officials, Ketut went on, had also sprayed disinfectants in the hotel room and surrounding areas.

MADE ARGAWA