Margo City becomes first mall cluster in Indonesia
In a troubling development in the ongoing COVID-19 situation in Indonesia, the official COVID Task Force has declared Margo City in Depok as the first shopping mall cluster in Indonesia.
After 15 employees were tested positive for COVID-19, the mall has been temporarily shut down by management until 25th August. The situation is pending further development.
15 confirmed cases and potentially more
Giant supermarket in Margo City where the cases originated
Image credit: @margocity
As reported by Kompas, the spokesman for Depok’s COVID task force Dadang Wihana confirmed the 15 cases yesterday afternoon. But he elaborated that concern was first raised as early as late July.
On 26th July, an employee of the Giant supermarket located in the basement of the mall reported having a fever before being confirmed positive for COVID-19 on 5th August. The other 75 employees of the supermarket were then quarantined in their own homes.
Out of the 75 employees, 15 have been confirmed positive for COVID-19 through a swab test. 15 other employees had their blood taken for a rapid test, were reactive for COVID-19, and are now waiting for more accurate results from a swab test.
Official statement on the temporary shutdown of the mall
Image credit: @margocity
In response, the management of Margo City has temporarily shut down the mall until 25th August, even though the confirmed cases so far are only limited to employees of the Giant supermarket.
Additionally, CNN Indonesia reports that Depok’s COVID task force is now working to trace other people who might’ve come into contact with the 15 confirmed cases, with more confirmed cases potentially still to emerge from this cluster.
With the office clusters also sparking concern and the number of daily new cases in the country still relatively high, this does point to how we still have a long road to recovery.
The number of daily confirmed cases shows no sign of slowing down
Latest COVID-19 figures as of 19th August 2020
Image credit: Indonesia COVID-19 Task Force
As of 19th August 2020, Indonesia has had a total of 144,945 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 39,942 of those cases undergoing treatment.
The country has also reported 6,346 deaths from COVID-19, representing 4.4% of confirmed cases.
The number of daily new confirmed cases from June until today
Image credit: Indonesia COVID-19 Task Force
More importantly, Indonesia has shown a slight upward trend in the number of daily new cases since June 2020, the beginning of the PSBB transition phase. While this is partly to be expected as the government ramps up testing, the fact that it’s still not slowing down remains a cause for concern.
As quoted by Tempo, Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan is considering going back to PSBB if the situation still hasn’t improved. He implored citizens to keep maintaining health protocols at all times.
Continue keeping up health and safety measures
With the economy being reopened and the streets of Jakarta goes chaotic once again, it may seem at first glance that we’ve safely made it through the worst of the pandemic. In truth, we’re still neck-deep in COVID-19.
Don’t go out to public places unless it’s absolutely necessary and when you do, wear a face mask, maintain distance from other people, and routinely wash your hands. Let’s work together to beat this pandemic with our combined efforts and sacrifices.
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Cover image adapted from Depok Terkini and @kristianto.purnomo
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