Jakarta (ANTARA) - The COVID-19 Handling Task Force has stated that hospitals have emerged as the largest contributors of confirmed coronavirus cases.

"As of June 4 to September 12, 2020, it is known that the cluster that contributed the most number of COVID-19 cases was from hospitals, communities, and offices. In the hospitals, there are a total of 24,000 patients," said Wiku Adisasmito, spokesperson for the COVID-19 task force, at a virtual press conference held from the Presidential Office in Jakarta on Tuesday.

He explained that there were 15,133 cases emerging from community clusters, with the office cluster accounting for 3,194 confirmed cases, ship crew members or Indonesian migrant workers cluster adding 1,641 cases, market clusters accounting for 622 cases, and the Community Health Centers clusters contributing 220 cases.

"The number of confirmed positive cases found in office clusters, factories, and (among) several state officials is proof that there is still negligence in the implementation of health protocols and we should immediately conduct evaluations in all places in order to prevent this from happening further," he remarked.

The latest state official to have tested positive for COVID-19 is Minister of Religion, Fachrul Razi. More officials, including Minister of Transportation, Budi Karya Sumadi, Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Edhy Prabowo, former Ambassador to the United States of America, Dino Patti Djalal, Mayor of Bogor, Bima Arya, Deputy Mayor of Bandung, Yana Mulyana, and other state officials, had earlier tested positive for COVID-19.

"Information disclosure must be appreciated and traced properly so that we can detect and stop transmission from one person to another, and this has been done by government agencies," Adisasmito added.

A number of government agencies, he continued, have temporarily stopped activities, including at several ministries and provincial government offices after positive cases were detected in these places.

"For that (reason), we also ask the private sector and factories to really be able to do the same thing as in the ministry and provincial offices by conducting tests, tracing, and cluster reporting," he continued.

He asked businesses not to be ashamed if employees tested positive for COVID-19.

"Do not feel ashamed if there are positive cases because we need to protect people with positive infections, take care of them so that they can be healed and (become) healthy again," he said.

As of Tuesday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Indonesia had reached 252,923 people, with the addition of 4,071 cases.

About 184,298 patients have made a full recovery so far while 9,837 have succumbed to the virus. Meanwhile, suspected cases have reached 109,721.

Coronavirus infections have spread across 34 provinces in the country with DKI Jakarta contributing the most cases (64,554), followed by East Java (41,417), Central Java (19,982), West Java (18,077), and South Sulawesi (14,524).

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Translator: Desca Lidya Natalia/Aria Cindy
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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