Coronavirus Update; MRT Begins Checking Passengers' Temperature

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - PT MRT Jakarta (Perseroda) has started to take passengers' body temperature as a preemptive measure against the coronavirus outbreak. The body temperature checks are conducted at all station entrances. Passengers with symptoms of high fever are denied entry.    

"Body temperature checks have begun at Lebak Bulus Station," MRT Jakarta corporate secretary Muhamad Kamaluddin said via text message on Wednesday, March 4.

Jakarta MRT has in parallel issued a special director's regulation to strengthen the steps and procedures for handling the spread of the new coronavirus known as Covid-19, which originated in China's Wuhan Province.

The Jakarta MRT also coordinates with the Jakarta Health Office following a meeting between directors of the two institutions on February 12. Since then, the two offices have been holding regular meetings. 

Earlier, the government spokesperson for the Covid-19 mitigation team, Achmad Yurianto, said that the first two cases of Covid-19 in Indonesia were that with asymptomatic transmission.

Yurianto told reporters at the Health Ministry that the Japanese national, who was tested positive for the virus in Malaysia, showed no symptoms of illness when making close contact with the two Depok residents who were then confirmed positive. The two Indonesian patients are now being treated at Sulianti Saroso Hospital.

Yurianto, secretary of the Health Ministry's Disease Prevention and Control Directorate General, said that the two coronavirus patients—a mother and her daughter—live in a house inhabited by four people; them, another child, and a household assistant.

ANTARA