The patient is under the surveillance and currently being treated at the Jenderal Ahmad Yani Public Hospital's isolated roomMetro, Lampung (ANTARA) - Amid ongoing concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, a 2.4-year-old infant is hospitalized at a local public hospital in Kota Metro, Lampung, after ailing from flu and breathing difficulty, with body temperature of 38 degrees Celsius.
"The patient is under the surveillance and currently being treated at the Jenderal Ahmad Yani Public Hospital's isolated room," Head of the Kota Metro Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Task Force Nasir AT MM remarked here on Tuesday.
The ailing infant was symptomatic with influenza and shortness of breath along with recorded body temperature of up to 38 degrees Celsius after traveling to a city in West Java Province for a function, he stated.
"At the moment, the patient's body temperature is still 38 degrees Celsius, and a throat swab will be taken and sent for testing to the Indonesian Health Ministry's laboratory for obtaining the result," he stated, adding that 129 people were under surveillance at Kota Metro.
COVID-19, which initially struck in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of December 2019, has killed at least 16,558 people and infected no less than 381,653 people in 195 countries and territories worldwide, according to media reports.
In Indonesia, the virus has infected at least 579 people and claimed 49 lives, while 30 others have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.
Taking into account the rising death toll and the spread of this virus, the WHO has declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic.
In facing the impact of this virus outbreak, President Jokowi had hinted at the government's readiness to face the economic slowdown.
"The global economy is projected to decline, from three percent to 1.5 percent or lower than that," he told his cabinet members during a teleconference meeting to discuss monetary and fiscal policies in response to the COVID-19 outbreak on March 20.
The global economic slowdown amid this virus outbreak might also impact Indonesia's economy whose growth rate was earlier forecast at between five and 5.4 percent this year.
On Tuesday morning, the rupiah exchange rate was traded at Rp16,505 per US dollar.
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Translator: Triono S, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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