Family Cluster Dominates New COVID-19 Cases In Surabaya

ILLUSTRATION / pixabay

SURABAYA - The East Java Provincial Government's COVID-19 Task Force recorded 301 new positive people for COVID-19 in the last two weeks. Hundreds of people are an increase in COVID-19 cases in East Java from the family cluster.

"Actually, there are several clusters during the last two weeks in East Java, such as the travel history cluster, mall cluster, family cluster. But most of them are from the family cluster," said the spokesman for the East Java COVID-19 Task Force, Makhyan Jibril Al Farabi, confirmed Wednesday. , 4 November.

According to Jibril, the patient's records confirmed positive for COVID-19 from the family cluster, not including extras due to long holidays. This family cluster appears in a number of areas in East Java such as Banyuwangi and Bondowoso districts, Mojokerto City, Probolinggo City, Kediri City, and several other areas.

"The clusters that appear during the long holiday cannot be seen, because the incubation period of COVID-19 is seven to 14 days. So, it will only be visible in one to two weeks," he said.

Therefore, Jibril reminded the public to anticipate the spread of Covid-19 in the family environment. Because the cause of the emergence of this family cluster comes from outside the home, so the community must really be disciplined in implementing health protocols.

"There could be a family member who is traveling and ignoring health protocols while outside the home, who then carries the virus when they return home. But they are not aware that they have contracted it," he said.

When returning home, it could be that the virus carrier does not wash their hands and clean themselves, and may immediately interact with people who are in the house. "Not all family members have strong immunity. So those with weak immunity are usually easily infected," he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chairman of Commission E of the East Java DPRD, Hikmah Bafaqih, asked the East Java Health Office (Dinkes) to promote more education and supervision, especially for those who carry out independent isolation at home. This is because the potential for the emergence of family clusters is very large, considering that many COVID-19 patients are self-isolating at home.

"Sometimes because they have no symptoms, they tend to ignore health protocols. So the government must increase education for the public," said Hikmah.

The number of COVID-19 cases in East Java to date has reached 53,274 people. A total of 47,262 of them recovered, 3,818 Covid-19 patients died, and 2,194 patients were still undergoing treatment.