Three of them are stable, while the other one is being treated in the intensive care unitBatam, Riau Islands (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Embassy in Singapore announced that five Indonesian citizens in the city state had tested positive for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), though only one of them was discharged from a local hospital.
Four Indonesians receiving medical treatment in Singapore are identified as Case 133, Case 147, Case 152, and Case 170, the Indonesian Embassy’s spokesperson, Ratna Lestari Harjana, told ANTARA on being contacted in Batam City on Thursday.
"Three of them are stable, while the other one is being treated in the intensive care unit," she stated, adding that the Indonesian Embassy will closely observe and continue to work with the Singaporean authorities in handling the COVID-19 patients from Indonesia.
According to Harjana, the Singaporean Health Ministry had confirmed that the latest case of COVID-19 was a woman, aged 56, and identified as Case 170.
The woman was symptomatic with COVID-19 since March 6, or three days prior to her arrival in Singapore on March 9. She had tested positive for the deadly virus after undergoing thorough examination at the Singapore General Hospital on March 10.
The Indonesian woman is the relative of an Indonesian, confirmed to have been infected with the coronavirus and called Case 152 in Singapore.
Taking into account the increasing death toll and rising spread of this virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic.
The COVID-19, which firstly struck in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of December 2019, has claimed at least 4,500 lives and infected over 120 thousand people worldwide. In Indonesia, the virus has infected 34 people and killed one.
The Indonesian government has put in place precautionary measures since the early stage of the coronavirus outbreak that first struck the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of December 2019.
In addition to installing thermal scanners at the country's airports and seaports, as well as making preparations at hospitals across the archipelago, the Indonesian government has repatriated several hundred citizens.
On February 2, a total of 238 Indonesian nationals were airlifted from Wuhan, China, to then be quarantined in Natuna District's Riau Islands Province. All these Indonesians were found to be healthy and reunited with their families.
On March 2, 2020, President Jokowi declared that two Indonesians had tested positive for COVID-19. The number of infected, confirmed by the government, has tended to continue to rise over the past days.
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Translator: Yuniati JN, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
