Khofifah Asks For Tracking Of COVID-19 Cases To Be Strengthened After School Clusters Appear In Malang

East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa/PHOTO VIA ANTARA

MALANG - East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa requested that tracking be strengthened regarding the spread of COVID-19 at one of the schools in the Malang City area. "The key is indeed in tracking which must be very detailed. One person is positive, the tracking must be complete and at least 15 people (tested) who had close contact with the patient," he said, quoted by Antara, Friday, January 21. He explained , if there is a case of the spread of COVID-19 in a particular school, it does not mean that all schools in the area have to stop face-to-face learning activities. According to him, optimal handling must be carried out at that school, while other schools can still carry out learning face to face. In fact, in schools where there are cases of COVID-19, the termination of PTM can be carried out in a class that is at risk. "When there is a confirmed child (COVID-19) distance learning can be carried out. the class is swab done, while other classes are still running PTM," he said.

According to Khofifah, the decision to handle the spread of the corona virus, especially in the school environment, remains with the local COVID-19 handling task force which must continue to be coordinated with related parties. , but there must be calculations and considerations in accordance with the circumstances," he said.

Previously, PTM activities at MAN 2 Malang City were stopped for approximately 14 days, following the discovery of one student who was exposed to the corona virus. The termination of the PTM was carried out starting January 18, 2022. It was learned that one grade 12 student at MAN 2 was exposed to COVID-19 after undergoing a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based swab test. The student previously attended a wedding in the southern Malang area on January 8, 2022. From one such case, the school together with the Malang City Health Service conducted tracking in the form of an antigen swab test to approximately 600 people in the school. The tracking results show that there are 37 people who have been confirmed positive for COVID-19. Currently, the students and caregivers who have been confirmed positive for COVID-19 have been self-isolating in a separate building within the school environment. In the school environment, dormitories are available for students. In Malang City, in total there were 15,681 positive confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 24 active cases recorded. Of the total, 14,524 people were reported to have recovered, 1,133 people were declared dead.