New Covid-19 Infection Clusters Emerge During Transitional PSBB: Task Force

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Covid-19 Mitigation Task Force Head of Data and Information Technology Unit, Dewi Nur Aisyah, reported the emergency of new Covid-19 infection clusters during the transitional period from the Large-Scale Social Restriction or PSBB to the new normal in Jakarta a while ago.

The new infection clusters are hotels, Islamic boarding schools or pesantren, night entertainment venues, and wedding events.

“These several clusters did not exist before, meaning that we must be more vigilant,” said Dewi in a virtual dialogue posted on the BNPB’s Youtube account on Wednesday, September 23, 2020.

Dewi conveyed data of the coronavirus transmission from June 4 until September 12 released by the Jakarta administration.

The data noted that wedding receptions ranked 12th position of places causing virus transmission with 25 people tested positive or 0.07 percent of the total infections. The three lowest positions or 0.01 percent were night entertainment venues (5 cases), boarding schools (4 cases), and hotels (3 cases). In total, Jakarta has 17 infection clusters.

“Even though the number is small, they are still deemed as an activity, and it has the potential to become a source of transmission,” Dewi underlined, adding that hotel clusters were still being investigated.

The three highest positions of Covid-19 infection clusters remain from patients in hospitals, patients in the community, and workplaces. According to her, the virus spread among family members included in the community cluster.

The Transitional PSBB in Jakarta ended on September 9, 2020. Governor Anies Baswedan finally decided to pull the emergency brake and reimposed the social restriction starting September 14. Recently, the policy was extended until October 11, 2020.

Read: Three Places at Highest Risk of Covid-19 Transmission: Study

LANI DIANA WIJAYA