Among them are four new inpatients, who might have contracted the infection from those joining the Ijtima Jamaah Tabligh at the Asia Conference held in Gowa District, South Sulawesi Province, in March this year, Indriarti informed journalists here, Monday.
"The four new inpatients have no records of traveling, but they had come in contact with members of the Gowa cluster," Indriarti stated.
The new inpatients at the city's public hospital comprise a four-year-old girl, 49-year-old woman, 35-year-old woman, and 31-year-old man, she remarked, adding that the number of people under surveillance totaled 522.
Of this figure, 355 had completed their quarantine period and received health notifications from the city's health centers, whereas 167 others were still under monitoring status, she revealed.
Speaking in connection with the COVID-19 patients coming from members of the Jamaah Tabligh congregation, Nunukan District Head Asmin Laura Hafid noted recently that five of them had been discharged from Nunukan District's Public Hospital.
They partook in a congregation of the Ijtima Jamaah Tabligh at the Asia Conference in Gowa District.
The Islamic congregation, termed the 2020 Global Ijtima-Asian Zone, in South Sulawesi Province, with several thousand Muslim participants from Indonesia and Asia, was postponed to stem COVID-19 transmission.
The decision was taken as a precautionary measure against the potential spread of COVID-19 by isolating members of the congregation for the sake of their safety and that of the local residents, Gowa District Head Adnan Purichta Ichsan YL stated on March 19, 2020.
Coronavirus infections initially emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019.
Since then, COVID-19 has spread to at least 202 countries and territories, including Indonesia, with a substantial spike in death toll.
The Indonesian Government officially confirmed the country's first cases on March 2 this year.
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Translator: Susylo A, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
