VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Government spokesman for the control of Covid-19 Achmad Yurianto. (ANTARA)

Jakarta - The number of suspected coronavirus patients in Indonesia has reached 11 as of Saturday afternoon, according to a government spokesman for the control of Covid-19 Achmad Yurianto.

One of the 11 patients suspected of having contracted the Covid-19 infection came in close contact with the first confirmed Covid-19 patient living in Jakarta's southern outskirts of Depok, Yurianto, concurrently secretary of the Directorate General of Disease Prevention and Control of the Health Ministry, stated.

"(The Covid-19 suspected patient) in Bandung is part of cluster number one. Up until now, (the guy) is still a suspected patient," he stated at the Presidential Palace compounds.

"(The guy) had come in close contact with patient number one," he noted.

Specimens from the patient, with suspected Covid-19, will be tested using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Genome Sequencingmethods to check for positive result indicating that the guy had contracted coronavirus, he remarked.

Yurianto noted that some of the 11 patients suspected of having contracted Covid-19 infection are part of the first and second clusters of Covid-19 cases in Indonesia. One of the suspected Covid-19 patients is a crew member of the Diamond Princess cruise liner.

However, he chose to not furnish details on the hospitals where the 11 Covid-19 suspected patients are undergoing treatment.

He said the health condition of the first and second Covid-19 suspected patients is showing improvement. They will only undergo laboratory testing. The results of two laboratory tests show that they are free from coronavirus, and they will be allowed to return home.

The health condition of the third and fourth patients positively diagnosed for Covid-19 on Friday has also shown improvement, he added. (ANTARA)