Govt Tracks Japanese COVID-19 Patient Move during Indonesia Visit

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia’s spokesman for the handling of the novel coronavirus or known as COVID-19, Achmad Yurianto, said a Japanese citizen who made in contact with Depok residents who later became the first two virus cases in Indonesia did not go to many places during her visit.

Yurianto explained that the Japanese citizen only attended a dance party in a club in Jakarta.

“The Japanese person just went there, to the party. The Japanese departed from Malaysia to here and return,” said Yurianto, who is also the secretary of the Health Ministry's Disease Control and Environmental Health Directorate General, in Jakarta, March 3.

According to Yurianto, the foreigner did not make stops to other places after the party and went straight back to Malaysia. “The Japanese directly went to the airport,” he added.

On Monday, March 2, the Indonesian government announced two Depok residents, a mother and daughter in their 60s and 30s respectively, tested positive for the virus.

The daughter reportedly joined the dance party on February 14 with participants from various countries. Two days after, she coughed a lot, showing symptoms of the virus and was treated in the nearby hospital. 

The Japanese citizen had apparently called the dance partner, saying that the Japanese had been declared positive for the novel coronavirus. The mother was then infected by her daughter.

At present, Yurianto underlined that the two Indonesian citizens contracting the COVID-19 were being quarantined at Sulianti Saroso Hospital (RSPI) in North Jakarta, while the Japanese citizen was still under treatment in Malaysia.

AHMAD FAIZ