We are following the policies that were developed and were jointly determined (with the Ministry of Health).Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Jakarta provincial government has yet to issue a centralized isolation policy for the highly infectious monkeypox disease despite one resident contracting the infection.
"We are following the policies that were developed and were jointly determined (with the Ministry of Health). Thus, for the patients, the policy is that if they are able to self-isolate properly, they will be allowed to self-isolate," Head of Disease Prevention and Control (P2P) at the Jakarta Health Office Dwi Oktavia said when contacted here on Friday.
The treatment will also be adjusted to the patient's medical condition, including in the event the patient requires intensive care, she added.
"For example, if they have severe symptoms that require them to be treated, they will be treated," she clarified.
The policy is being implemented based on the policy used for tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.
"So again, (like COVID-19) when people were able to isolate well, they were allowed to self-isolate," she said.
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Oktavia further said that monkeypox is not as easily transmitted as COVID-19, which can be transmitted via droplets. Monkeypox transmission is more likely to occur through direct contact.
Therefore, even though COVID-19 and monkeypox are both caused by viruses, monkeypox transmission via droplets is still hypothetical.
Although monkeypox is also caused by a virus, its transmission is quite different from COVID-19 because it has different characteristics with different target organs, she explained.
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Last Saturday (August 20, 2022), the Ministry of Health announced that Indonesia's first monkeypox infection had been confirmed in a 27-year-old man in Jakarta.
The ministry reported that the patient recently traveled outside the country and had presented with symptoms such as fever and rashes on the body.
Jakarta Deputy Governor Ahmad Riza Patria said that the Jakarta provincial government would continue to monitor the health of the patient, who was self-isolating at his own residence.
He informed that the condition of the patient was improving, and there were no significant problems.
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Translator: Ricky Prayoga, Raka Adji
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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