Tightening the monitoring of incoming travelers demonstrates the West Papua police's seriousness in curbing coronavirus transmission, West Papua Police Chief Tornagogo Sihombing said.
On Saturday, some 13 incoming passengers partaking in the antigent tests received reactive results so that they were required to get polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, he told journalists on the sidelines of his visit to Rendani Airport in Manokwari, the capital of West Papua Province.
Their PCR test results would determine whether or not they had suffered the COVID-19 symptoms, Sihombing said.
To contain the COVID-19 spread, he urges locals to keep complying with the 5M health protocols -- wearing mask, washing hands, practicing physical distancing measures, avoiding crowds, and reducing mobility.
The COVID-19 pandemic initially struck the Chinese city of Wuhan in 2019 and subsequently spread across the globe, including to countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Indonesian government announced the country's first confirmed cases on March 2, 2020.
Since then, the central and regional governments have striven incessantly to flatten the nation's coronavirus curve by applying healthcare protocols and public activity restrictions.
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As part of the efforts to win the fight against COVID-19, the Indonesian government has also been conducting a nationwide vaccination program to contain infections since January 13, 2021.
Amid the government's ongoing vaccination drives, Indonesia has been hit by the second wave of new COVID-19 cases.
The country saw a record increase in daily COVID-19 cases on Saturday (July 3, 2021), with 27,913 new infections reported across the country, which took the total tally to 2,256,851.
The COVID-19 Response Task Force noted that with 493 people dying of COVID-19, the death toll reached 60,027. The number of deaths showed a decline on Saturday compared to that on Friday which stood at 539.
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Translator: HA Kapisa, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
