East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa has called for the strengthening of contact tracing at schools upon the detection of COVID-19 infections.
"The key is in tracing that should be carried out in detail. If one person tests positive, the tracing must be completed, and at least 15 people who have had close contact with the patient (must be tested)," she said here on Friday.
If a COVID-19 case is detected in one school, it does not follow that all schools in the area will need to halt face-to-face learning, she added.
According to Parawansa, optimal handling must be done at the school in question, while other schools continue to carry out face-to-face learning.
In fact, in schools where COVID-19 cases are detected, it is possible that face-to-face learning will be only halted for the class that is at risk, she said.
The decision on handling COVID-19 transmission, especially at schools, remains under the purview of the local COVID-19 handling task force, which has to coordinate with related parties, she added.
"The decision remains the local COVID-19 task force's. Thus, do not generalize everything. There must be calculations and considerations in accordance with the situation," the governor said.
Recently, face-to-face learning in Malang city's State Islamic Senior High School 2 was halted for 14 days after a student contracted COVID-19, she noted.
Following that finding, the school, in collaboration with the Malang city Health Office, tested approximately 600 people in the school, she said. Based on the results, 37 of the 600 people were confirmed positive for COVID-19, she added.
The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Indonesia in March 2020. According to data provided by the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, as of January 21, 2022, at least 4,280,248 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the country, while 4,121,928 people have recovered and 144,201 people have succumbed to the virus.
Editor : Didik Kusbiantoro
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