Acting director general of Disease Control and Prevention at the Health Ministry, Muhammad Budi Hidayat, said at an online press briefing on Tuesday that the trend of new COVID-19 cases in Indonesia has begun to slow down, however, the figure does not illustrate real transmissions on the ground.
Hidayat stressed that close contact-tracing of COVID-19 patients until a positive case is discovered must be followed up with quarantine or independent isolation in order to ensure that there is no continuous transmission.
“Various efforts have been taken by the government to stem the spread (of COVID-19), and even, stop transmissions: through early detection, screening for symptoms, screening for risk factors, self-isolation or quarantine according to the severity of symptoms, and contact-tracing, which is a critical point, from contact registration, contact quarantine, and monitoring of health conditions,” he said.
He urged health workers in the regions to pay attention to the incubation period of the virus in the human body before it finally begins to show symptoms. He also reminded workers of the susceptible period of transmission when one is in the incubation period for the virus.
He also highlighted the importance of coordination and collaboration between central and regional offices, based on applicable guidelines. "There also need to be monitoring and supervision from the smallest level, starting from the community health centers in districts and cities to the central (areas)," he said.
The COVID-19 Handling Task Force, together with the Ministry of Health, has launched a Tracing Strengthening Program for COVID-19 patients in 51 districts and cities in 10 priority provinces in an effort to reduce new confirmed cases.
The launch of the program is aimed at increasing the number of tracing personnel at community health centers (Puskesmas) and data officers to carry out simple epidemiological analyses in districts and cities. A total of 1,612 health centers across Indonesia are targeted to get additional 8,060 trackers.
The program, which includes the training, is expected to allow the detection of more than 80 percent of close contacts of confirmed patients within 72 hours, as well as monitor their close contacts for up to 14 days from the time of exposure to a COVID-19 patient. (INE)
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Translator: Aditya Ramadhan/Aria Cindyara
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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