A total of 17 patients are declared negative (for the virus). If they have been healthy, they can go home.Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA) - Some 17 patients suspected of having contracted the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Indonesian province of Riau have tested negative for the virus based on the results of a test conducted on their swab samples.
"Some 17 patients were declared negative (for the virus). If they are healthy, they can go home," Coordinator of the COVID-19 Control Team Mimi Yuliana Nazir stated in the Riau provincial capital of Pekanbaru on Thursday.
All suspected COVID patients can now leave the isolation rooms, he noted.
He remarked that the 17 patients are among the 60 patients under treatment (PDP). Hence, the number of PDP at several hospitals in Riau reaches 43.
By Thursday (March 26), only one patient had tested positive for coronavirus in Riau. The 63-year-old patient, being treated in an isolation room at the Arifin Achmad Regional General Hospital in Pekanbaru, is believed to have contracted COVID-19 after attending a religious gathering in Malaysia.
However, the number of people under surveillance (ODP) rose considerably to 2,438. Only four of them have completed surveillance requirements.
"The figure of ODP includes those who came in close contact with COVID-19 patients. They comprise family members, individuals who had taken the same flight as (COVID-19 patients), and stayed in the place where the patients had conducted activities in the past 14 days," he added. Related news: Indonesian transportation minister recovering: official
Related news: 10 Indonesian workers in Malaysia's Sabah test positive for COVID-19
Translator: FB Anggoro/Suharto
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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