Medan (ANTARA) - A total of 500 Indonesian migrant workers, who returned to North Sumatra from Malaysia, will be quarantined prior to being allowed to return to their respective hometowns.

Dr Aris Yudhariansyah, spokesman of the province's Task Force for Acceleration of COVID-19 Handling, stated here on Thursday that the migrant workers will undergo quarantine at two locations.

On Thursday morning, 270 migrant workers arrived at the Kualanamu International Airport aboard Malaysian Airlines flight MH860. They will be quarantined at Taman Cadika, Lubuk Pakam, Yudhariansyah, concurrently secretary of the North Sumatra Health Office, stated.

The second group, scheduled to arrive on Friday (April 10), will be quarantined at the former Polonia Airport in Medan.

"The workers will directly be transported to the location to undergo the quarantine process before they can return to their hometowns," he revealed.

Upon arrival, a team of the task force conducted health checks on the workers, sprayed disinfectant on their belongings, and interviewed them.

The team will conduct rapid test for COVID-19 in the event of any symptoms to prevent the workers from transmitting the virus.

As of Wednesday (April 8), North Sumatra had recorded 84 COVID-19 patients, with the number of deaths reaching seven. Related news: Medan declared as red zone over COVID-19 outbreak in Indonesia
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Translator: Sri Haryati
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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