Ambon, Maluku (ANTARA) – The Kepulauan Aru district administration in Maluku Province revealed that it had yet to confirm whether the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infecting its residents is the Delta variant, which spreads more quickly than the original SARS-CoV-2.
“I cannot yet confirm whether the new variant has been found in Aru, as we have no laboratory facilities that are able to conduct reliable laboratory tests for it,” Kepulauan Aru District Head Johan Gonga informed ANTARA during a telephonic interview from Ambon, the capital of Maluku Province, on Tuesday.
Moreover, Gonga pointed out that tens of local residents had contracted COVID-19 and were currently conducting self-isolation at home or at an appointed quarantine site.
The district administration, for instance, has determined the Kampong Jawa as a quarantine site for the carriers of COVID-19, he stated.
To stem the transmission of COVID-19, local health workers also consistently apply the 3T measures by conducting massive rapid COVID-19 antigen testing, contact tracing, and treating the patients.
The antigen testing was, for instance, offered to travelers as well as symptomatic and asymptomatic carriers. Consequently, the number of COVID-19 patients increased significantly, he stated.
“As of Tuesday, 129 patients remain hospitalized,” he remarked.
Over the past few weeks, Jakarta and several other provinces across Indonesia have witnessed an alarming resurgence of COVID-19 cases amid the government’s ongoing vaccination drives.
In flattening the COVID-19 curve, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has urged local residents to abstain from frequent travel.
Meanwhile, President Joko Widodo earlier highlighted the necessity for state institutions and all levels of government to be on the same wavelength in response to the alarming resurgence of cases.
Such a fast and appropriate response necessitates state institutions, the central government, and regional governments to be on the same frequency, he recently emphasized.
The COVID-19 pandemic initially struck the Chinese city of Wuhan in 2019 and thereafter spread across the world, including to nations in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Indonesian government announced the nation’s first confirmed cases on March 2, 2020.
Since then, the central and regional governments have striven incessantly to flatten the nation’s coronavirus curve by applying healthcare protocols and social restrictions.
As part of the efforts to win the fight against COVID-19, the Indonesian government has also been conducting a nationwide vaccination program to contain infections since January 13, 2021.
Indonesia recently received 10 million doses of bulk vaccines from China’s Sinovac.
As of June 20, 2021, the nation had received 104,728,400 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, comprising 94.5 million Sinovac vaccines, 8.228 million AstraZeneca vaccines, and two million Sinopharm vaccines.
Source: Antara News