Indonesia reports first coronavirus death, confirmed cases total 27

A motorist wears a protective face mask while driving, in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on March 10, 2020. PHOTO: EPA-EFE via The Straits Times

JAKARTA – Indonesia on Wednesday (March 11) announced the country’s first fatality from the coronavirus outbreak, a 53-year-old foreign woman with several underlying health conditions including hypertension and diabetes.

The death was reported just slightly over a week after the country announced its first confirmed cases which now stand at 27.

“(The patient) had underlying conditions of high blood pressure, hyperthyroidism, long years of obstructive lung disease.

“She was 53 and a foreigner. The embassy has been informed,” Mr Achmad Yurianto, a spokesman for the Covid-19 task force, told a press conference.

He declined to disclose the nationality of the deceased but said she died at around 2am on Wednesday.

“Coronavirus has weakened her immune system, and in turn, worsened her pre-existing medical conditions,” Mr Achmad added.

Indonesia is stepping up its capacity for testing people for Covid-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, as the number of cases rose in the past days.

On Tuesday, Indonesia confirmed eight fresh cases of coronavirus infection, after 13 new cases were announced the previous day.

Mr Achmad said the government has tested up to 736 people as of Wednesday morning.

“We are continuing to do close contact tracing on all the 27 confirmed cases,” Mr Achmad stressed.

An additional 10,000 rapid PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) test kits arrived in Jakarta on Tuesday. The government also conducts the more accurate swab tests, whose results take longer to come back.

On Wednesday morning, the authorities also announced that Case 6 and Case 14 have tested negative for the second time, making them eligible to be released from hospital.

“We are now educating them before they go home so they could properly conduct self-isolation,” Mr Achmad said. “Although they have tested negative… they have to avoid close contacts with family members, do not share utensils, reduce activities outside their homes, especially those that involve meeting with other people.”

When asked by reporters why he declined to disclose the general locations or areas where the confirmed cases reside, Mr Achmad said such information would not be relevant as any host of the virus or infected persons, would not likely stay at home (during an incubation period), but instead would remain mobile doing their activities.

Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous nation, stepped up its fight to contain the spread of the virus by banning the entry and transit of foreign visitors coming from 10 places worst-stricken by the coronavirus in Iran, Italy and South Korea from Sunday.