JAKARTA - Spokesperson for handling COVID-19, Achmad Yurianto, said there was a surge in corona virus or COVID-19 patients to 172 cases. Meanwhile, as of yesterday, March 16, there were a total of 134 COVID-19 patients.
DKI Jakarta, he said, contributed the highest number to patients with COVID-19. This happened because the area led by Anies Baswedan has a large enough border gate and quite high mobility.
"The total number of cases (COVID-19) has 172 cases where five people have died. The biggest increase came from DKI Jakarta, then East Java, Central Java and the Riau Islands," Yuri said in his press conference, Tuesday, March 17.
The high number of people with the virus originating from the City of Wuhan, China also occurred due to contact from pre-existing positive patient cases.
Although the number of people with this case in Jakarta is quite high, not all of them are hospitalized. Yuri said those with mild symptoms only need to be self-isolated at their respective homes. Yuri said, they had also been socialized about self-isolated.
"Home isolation is not something difficult and simple but requires a strong commitment, not only from the patient but also from the family.
Spokesperson for handling COVID-19, Achmad Yurianto
In home isolation, a patient is required to keep a mask and keep a distance from other family members. They were also asked not to use the same cutlery as other people, even if it was possible for the patient to be expected to sleep in a different room.
Prepare 10 thousand test kits
Yuri said, currently, Indonesia has no shortage of COVID-19 test kits, even though the number of people being tested continues to grow. According to Yuri, although this tool must be purchased from abroad, there is no problem with its provision.
"For the kits (test kits), we have received 10 thousand tools and soon we will add. ... We have to buy this from outside and there is no problem because the provider has no difficulty in providing the amount we asked for," said Yuri without explaining in detail. continue where the tool was purchased.
He predicts there will be a significant spike in patient additions in the future. This is very likely to happen, because tracing of the cases that occur continues to be done. In addition, the public has now become more educated and proactive in providing reports on its relationship to COVID-19.
"Some who felt that they had contact with positive cases who were declared to immediately consult with doctors in several hospitals and some of them decided to do a swab (saliva sampling) in order to examine the virus. ... We will monitor all of them," he explained.
Although there is a possibility of a significant increase in the number of patients, Yuri said, there are hundreds of hospitals ready to treat them.
Among them are 109 hospitals owned by the TNI, 53 hospitals owned by the National Police, 65 hospitals owned by BUMN, as well as several private hospitals and one of them is Pertamina Jaya Hospital which has made the mattress in the hospital as a place for COVID-19 treatment.
Even though he was preparing for a significant increase in patients, Yuri reminded the public not to panic in facing this virus. He also stated that people who feel sick cannot just ask to be examined or tested for COVID-19 if there is no direct contact and there is no direction from the doctor who carried out the previous examination.
He asked the public to continue to follow the rules of studying, working and worshiping at home to reduce the incidence of direct contact with other people in crowds or public places. This is because public places and crowds are prone to the spread of the virus.
"This means to reduce the incidence of contact with people in the crowd and in public places. This is where the vulnerability occurs," he said.
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