• March 02, 2020
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Indonesia’s first COVID-19 cases confirmed

Two Indonesians have tested positive for COVID-19, marking the first couple of cases in the Southeast Asian country. Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced today, 2 March, that a 64-year-old woman and her 31-year-old daughter had been infected by the novel coronavirus after coming into contact with a Japanese citizen who tested positive in the country on 27 February. The two had since been hospitalised.

In neighbouring Singapore, three people – one Myanmar national and two Singaporean citizens – have also tested positive for COVID-19 today, 2 March. The three have reportedly visited Batam, Riau Islands in Indonesia. This development brings the number of COVID-19 patients in Singapore who visited Indonesia to seven.

Concern has been mounting amongst medical professionals about the lack of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the world with a population of over 260 million. Indonesia has defended its policies toward the novel coronavirus, saying that the country has the resources to cope with an outbreak.

Experts have also been sceptical about the low number of cases in Southeast Asia in general despite having strong trade and tourism ties with China and, in Indonesia’s case, direct flights to the outbreak’s epicentre Wuhan. Myanmar and Laos – countries that border China – have not recorded any COVID-19 cases as of press time. Brunei and East Timor have zero cases to date as well.