The second phase of large-scale social restrictions will begin on April 24 and end on May 6, he revealed, adding that Papua is currently ranked sixth in terms of the number of coronavirus cases in Indonesia.
Nationwide, Papua currently ranks below Bali in terms of the number of COVID-19 cases, he pointed out
Tinal believes that despite the high number of COVID-19 positive patients, Papua has the highest recovery rate of 27 percent among the country's 34 provinces.
To this end, the Papua vice governor is optimistic that all members of the community would be disciplined and serious in adhering to the government's directives to contain the transmission of COVID-19 by stopping activities until 2 p.m. local time.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Papua rose by five to reach 124 as of Wednesday, according to spokesman for the Papua Provincial Task Force for the Acceleration of COVID-19 Handling Dr Silwanus Sumule.
The residents, whose test results came back positive for COVID-19, reside in the provincial capital city of Jayapura and the 10 districts of Jayapura, Boven Digul, Biak Numfor, Keerom, Mimika, Merauke, Sarmi, Nabire, Jayawijaya, and Mamberamo Tengah.
Sumule noted that 84 of the 124 patients that contracted COVID-19 are undergoing treatment at different hospitals, 33 have recovered, while seven died of the virus.
The task force also recorded the number of patients under surveillance (PDP) and people under surveillance (ODP) at 160 and 3,741 respectively.
According to Sumule, the higher number of people exposed to COVID-19 may have resulted from the ineffectual physical distancing policy that led to the virus spreading easily.
Related news: COVID-19 test results come back positive for 124 Papua residents
Related news: Nine Indonesians die of COVID-19 in the US
Translator: Evarukdijati/Suharto
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
