PANGKALPINANG, KOMPAS.com – Three medical workers in Indonesia have tested positive for the Covid-19 virus after being infected by a doctor who traveled to Jakarta.
The medical staff members are based in Pangkalpinang, Bangka Belitung Island.
The individuals are three of 19 people who have been subjected to mandatory quarantine resulting from a positive Covid-19 test result.
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According to a statement by the Secretary of the Bangka Belitung Covid-19 Task Force, Mikron Antariksa, the three individuals work for a private hospital in Pangkalpinang.
A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test confirmed that the medical workers were carriers of the Covid-19 virus.
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A 60-year old doctor infected the medical workers who are around 30 years old.
“After one week of not having any new Covid-19 infections, we found 1 doctor that did test positive for the virus. Upon carrying out contact tracing, we discovered 3 new positive cases rounding out to a total of 4 medical workers who are Covid-19 positive,” explained Mikron.
Bangka Belitung has a total of 152 confirmed Covid-19 cases including its newest four cases.
As many as 19 people have been hospitalized, 2 have died, and 131 have recovered from the infectious virus in Bangka Belitung.
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Taking the lesson of the infected four individuals, Mikron stressed the importance of adhering to Covid-19 health protocols in the new normal.
He expressed how this development serves as a warning to locals. The Bangka Belitung Covid-19 Task Force is working to break the chain of transmission of the coronavirus pandemic.
Mass rapid testing has been conducted in addition to verifying offices that have abided to the established health protocols.
“Hopefully the number of infections won’t increase again. We would like to focus on hospitalized Covid-19 patients and making sure they all recover,” stated Mikron.
Latest Covid-19 Updates
The Indonesian government’s latest data for June 29 indicates that active transmission of the Covid-19 virus continues.
As of 12:00 noon today, there are a reported 1,082 new Covid-19 cases.
The nationwide Covid-19 tally has surpassed the 55,000-mark totaling 55,092 Covid-19 cases.
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The government managed to test 11,783 specimens in a day although this puts the country’s testing rate far below the suggested 30,000 daily tests.
East Java maintains its record for having the highest number of new Covid-19 cases with 297 new patients.
Central Java comes in second with 198 new cases followed by South Sulawesi, Central Kalimantan, and Jakarta.
The capital city recorded 125 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours. (Writer: Pangkalpinang Contributor, Heru Dahnur, Fitria Chusna Farisa | Editor: Farid Assifa, Bayu Galih)
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