6 Recovered, Total COVID-19 Cases In Riau Islands Become 30 Patients

The COVID-19 vaccination criteria are transgender, disabled and elderly in Yogyakarta as an effort to prevent COVID-19 cases. (Antara-Andreas Fitri A)

JAKARTA - There are only 30 cases of COVID-19 in the Riau Islands Province (Kepri). This figure is after six residents were declared by the local COVID-19 Handling Task Force to be cured.

Daily Head of the Riau Islands COVID-19 Handling Task Force Adi Prihantara said five recovered patients were from Batam, and one from Tanjungpinang.

Meanwhile, the distribution of COVID-19 cases in Riau Islands includes 20 people in Batam, three people in Tanjungpinang, two people in Bintan Regency, and five people in Karimun.

"There are no cases of death due to COVID-19," said Adi, who also serves as the Regional Secretary for Riau Islands in Tanjungpinang City, quoted by Antara, Saturday, July 16.

Adi said that three districts in Riau Islands, namely the Anambas, Lingga and Natuna Islands, had no active cases of COVID-19. Anambas and Lingga about four months ago had zero active cases of COVID-19, followed by Lingga.

The COVID-19 Handling Task Force has designated the three districts as Green Zones, while Batam, Tanjungpinang, Bintan and Karimun are Yellow Zones or the risk of transmission is low.

"The government is now tightening access to domestic and international travel to prevent a significant increase in patients," he said.

The Head of the Riau Islands Health Service, Mohamad Bisri, appealed to residents to inject the third dose of vaccine or booster. Currently, only 47 percent of the 1.3 million residents have injected booster vaccines.

"The COVID-19 vaccination is to increase people's immune systems, therefore the government encourages people who are at least 18 years old to immediately inject booster doses of vaccine," he concluded.