Govt downplays reports of Chinese tourist who tested positive for coronavirus after Bali sojourn


Kharishar Kahfi and Gemma Holliani Cahya

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta / Fri, February 14, 2020 / 07:30 amHealth workers wearing protective gear take part in an exercise in handling a suspected patient at Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on Feb. 12. (AFP/SONNY TUMBELAKA)
The Health Ministry has played down the news that a Chinese tourist who traveled from Wuhan to Bali last month tested positive for the novel coronavirus a few days after he left the resort island.

The Health Ministry’s disease control and environmental health directorate general secretary, Achmad Yurianto, said on Thursday that the patient could have been infected in Shanghai after he returned from Bali and reiterated that Bali had yet to detect any positive coronavirus cases. Therefore, Bali’s condition was “insufficient to infect people”.

Authorities in Huainan city in Anhui province, China, reported via Weibo on Feb. 5 the travel history of a Chinese national identified as Jin who had tested positive for the new coronavirus. The patient flew to Denpasar, Bali, on Jan. 22 on a Lion Air flight from Wuhan (JT2618) and left on a Garuda Indonesia flight from Denpasar to Shanghai (GA858) on Jan. 28. Chinese authorities advised passengers who had been on either flight to quarantine themselves and check for fever.

Read also: Tourist tests positive for coronavirus eight days after return from Bali: Chinese authorities

The Indonesian Health Ministry, however, did not have any plans to advise the passengers similarly. "If we find this Jin, we will speak up. There’s no way we will tell people, ‘Hey, you are under observation because you might get infected by someone that I suspect [of being infected by the virus].’ It’s just a suspicion, and people would get panicked. One thing is for sure: on Jan. 22 all [Lion Air] passengers were examined and received a health alert card [upon entering Indonesia],” Achmad said in a press briefing.

Achmad said his office had sent queries to both Lion Air and Garuda Indonesia and had found two passengers with the surname Jin, one an adult and the other a minor. Both flew on Lion Air JT2618 on Jan. 22 and Garuda Indonesia GA858 on Jan. 28.

“Our suspicion falls on two passengers on those flights: the young Jin and the older Jin. However, their seats are far apart so they’re probably not family,” he said.

The health ministry official went on to say that it was possible that Jin, who reportedly tested positive on Feb. 5, was not infected in Indonesia. Achmad said that the average incubation period of the novel coronavirus was 10 days and, therefore, by his own calculations, Jin should have been infected by the coronavirus on Jan. 27 or 28.

“Assuming that he was in Indonesia on Jan. 27, that was a time when we did not have any positive cases of the novel coronavirus. We tested specimens from two Indonesian citizens and 12 foreigners, and all of them tested negative,” Achmad said.

This photo taken on Feb. 4 shows a medical staff member showing a test tube after taking samples taken from a person to be tested for the new coronavirus at a quarantine zone in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, in China's central Hubei province. (AFP/-)

As the ministry had not recorded any significant increase in influenza-like illnesses during that period, Achmad said he believed that “Bali’s condition at that time was insufficient for him to be infected by the novel coronavirus.”

“We also know that he got on a taxi or other public transportation upon returning to Shanghai on Jan. 28. He might have been infected there.”

Achmad said the ministry would try to confirm Jin’s identity with relevant authorities, including the Huainan CDC, through the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing and the Immigration Office. Once the ministry obtained Jin’s full identity, officials would determine which hotels he stayed at in Bali, Achmad said.

“This is not simply about this specific Jin but about how we prepare for strong protection and detection. He is in his country now. We wish him a speedy recovery. Our focus is on Bali right now,” he said.

More on Jin

On Thursday, The Jakarta Post obtained new information from the Huainan city government website about a coronavirus patient in Huainan identified as Jin with a matching travel history – from Huainan to Wuhan on Jan. 22 – and a matching infection chronology to the Jin referenced in the Weibo announcement.

According to information posted the Huainan Municipal People's Government Health Committee website on Feb. 5, a male, 35-year-old patient named Jin was confirmed to have COVID-19, the illness resulting from the novel coronavirus, on Feb. 4. He lived in an apartment in Tianjia'an district and was admitted to an isolation room in a city hospital on Jan. 30.

The entry did not mention any travel history to Bali, but it did mention that he was in Wuhan on Jan. 22, which is consistent with the information that he had traveled to Denpasar from an airport in Wuhan on Jan. 22.

Earlier, the Post reported separate information from the Huainan Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), announced via Weibo, that a patient named Jin departed on Lion Air flight JT2618 from Wuhan – the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak – to Bali on Jan. 22. He took Garuda Indonesia flight GA858 from Denpasar to Shanghai on Jan. 28 and checked into a hotel in Shanghai at 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 29.

Read also: Garuda disinfects aircraft following report of confirmed coronavirus case on Bali-Shanghai flight

The CDC also wrote that on Jan. 29 Jin boarded the fourth car of the G1814 train from Shanghai to South Nanjing at 2:15 p.m. After arriving in South Nanjing at 3:22 p.m., he continued his journey to South Huainan Station by boarding the 15th car of G2809 train. He arrived at South Huainan Station at 3:42 p.m. on Jan. 29.

He later took a taxi to Huaihe Xincheng at 6 p.m. Authorities said they had determined the taxi driver’s identity.

The Post attempted to contact the Huainan Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Huainan Health Commission on Thursday by phone, but the officials with whom reporters spoke decline to provide any information.

Combining information on the patient from the Huainan Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Huainan Municipal People's Government Health Committee website, it is likely that the chronology of his trip from Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, to him being quarantined at Huainan is as follows.

Jan. 22 at 3:05 p.m. (Wuhan time): departed on flight JT2618 to Denpasar, Bali

Jan. 22 at 10:55 p.m. (local time): arrived at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali

Jan. 28 at 4:45 p.m.: flew on GA858 from Bali to Shanghai

Jan. 29 1:30 a.m. (Shanghai time): arrived in Shanghai and went to a hotel

Jan. 29: took a train from Shanghai to South Nanjing and later to South Huainan Station

Jan. 30: admitted to a hospital in Huainan

Feb. 4: tested positive for COVID-19

Feb. 5: Huainan CDC issued health advisories to passengers who had been on flights JT2618 and GA858 and those on Jin’s other modes of transportation. (aly/hol)
Bali + World News & Views Editor's Comments:
Combined Blogs With Over 1,700,000 Pageviews 
Editor Lawrence -Bali Sunset
Update. Novel Coronavirus---2020-02-14:

Based on the Last official update: 13th. February 2020, 8:02 p.m. ET
There are currently 64,438 confirmed cases worldwide, including 1,383 fatalities.

As I have been saying for some time "The reality is that there are probably many more cases and substantially more deaths that have not been reported as of this date."



The Bad News:
Yesterday after China reported a 35% increase in the number of new cases from 44,793 to 60,616 cases I reminded my readers that "As I said during every other update "the real numbers are probably substantially higher".
"The reality is that there are probably many more cases and substantially more deaths that have not been reported as of this date."

As the Chinese go into buildings that were previously welded shut they will discover many more cases and many more deaths.

But what I am concerned about is, "is the coronavirus spreading or is it slowing down?"
13 February 2020 Coronavirus: Sharp increase in deaths and cases in Hubei




Some 242 deaths from the new coronavirus were recorded in the Chinese province of Hubei on Wednesday, the deadliest day of the outbreak.

There was also a huge increase in the number of cases, with 14,840 people diagnosed with Covid-19.

The reason for the 35 % increase in reported cases was that Hubei "started using a broader definition to diagnose people, which accounts for most of the rise in cases."

China sacked two top officials in Hubei province hours after the new figures were revealed.

Until Wednesday's increases, the number of people with the virus in Hubei, where the outbreak emerged, was stabilising.





The Good News:

Yesterday I stated "Up until today's rather dramatic news we were seeing the coronavirus slow down substantially.

In fact, overnight there were several news reports, which I did not have a chance to read yet, stating that the coronavirus had peaked.

The world World Health Organization W.H.O.was quick to make a statement that coronavirus cases may not have peaked so there's lots of conflicting news, as there always is during a virus breakout.

I still believe that the coronavirus may have peaked or will peak this month as I predicted a month ago.

"I still believe that the coronavirus may have peaked or will peak this month as I predicted a month ago."

We may be just receiving the real numbers now and if we had the real numbers before we would still see a declining percentage of new virus cases every day.

As you can clearly see from today's chart the percentage of new cases after rising 35% yesterday has dropped back to what it has been averaging recently around 6%.

This is why there have been several articles printed stating that this disease may have peaked.

When I read information say about Cities such as Shanghai and Hainan going into lockdown and farmers dumping all their produce because they can't get it to market along with a lot of other bad news frankly I am on the fence as to whether this virus is under control or not yet.

Stay tuned to my future daily blogs to get facts reported to you by someone who has a vested interest in knowing what's going on.
First, because  I have a family with a loving wife and two young boys.

Secondly, I have a hotel business  PT Bali Luxury Villas which fortunately to this point has only lost 3% occupancy from last year.

If this virus gets out of control and especially starts to infect Bali things will change dramatically overnight.

It's my job to make sure that my staff my owners and my guests are on top of the news and what is going on.

So, I personally along with my family our hotel staff and our guests are still confident that this virus is of little risk, especially in Bali where to this date there have been no reported cases of coronavirus.

Last night there was a reported case of a Chinese tourist that came here and left last month. After he arrived in China after eight days he did show signs of the coronavirus. 

That does not mean he caught it here although there is a slight chance that may be reality.

Coronavirus patient visited Bali last month: Chinese authorities
Passengers wear face masks at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali on Feb 9, 2020.PHOTO: NYTIMESPUBLISHED10 HOURS AGO

JAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Authorities in Anhui province, China, have reported that a Chinese national who visited Bali late last month has tested positive for the coronavirus disease Covid-19, as Indonesian authorities scramble to verify the information on Wednesday (Feb 12).

 The patient stayed on the island for about a week before flying on Garuda Indonesia flight GA858 from Bali to Shanghai on Jan 28.

The patient was found to have been infected with the coronavirus on Feb 5 by Huainan CDC according to the Weibo post.

Editor's comment: So if I'm reading this right the press is speculating that someone received the virus in Bali even though they were not diagnosed with the virus when they arrived in China. I assume when he arrived in China he was inspected by the now already experienced airport inspection teams. 

Then eight days later he was found to have the virus after spending 8 Days Back in China.

Excuse me but I think the press speculating on this person receiving the virus in Bali are not completing journalistic integrity. 

I agree  with," the Health Ministry's disease control and environmental health director-general, Mr Anung Sugihantono, said his office had not yet received the information and was still "confirming it" but he was quick to say that it was "a rumour""

Coronavirus may not like high heat:

Remembering back to the SARS virus 18 years ago one thing I remember is that SARS did not do very well in extreme heat. Therefore I believe there was little or no cases of SARS in Bali at the time.

Donald Trump was alluding to this fact the other day after talking to the president of China.

He said that he was told by the president of China that this virus does not survive in high heat and of course Bali is in the midst of their summer with temperatures 33 to 35°C.

“Coronaviruses have seasonality," says Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist with the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. “We do know that certain environmental conditions favor the transmission of viruses and that cold weather, the humidity, all of that, affect trajectory. There's a good reason to believe [this virus] will have that seasonality."

Summary:

So the bottom line is don't let today's substantial rise in cases and deaths scare you.

"Don't let today's substantial rise in cases and deaths scare you"

The Chinese may be just showing the real numbers and in fact they could even go higher in the coming weeks as the Chinese discover more and more cases and deaths in the high-rises that they had quarantined before.

I sincerely believe so much that this virus has actually peaked or is close to peaking that I told my two sons this morning that "if the news continues to be good through the weekend that they will not have to wear masks to school on Monday at the international school that they attend.


Indonesia & Bali are still free from the deadly virus according to the Indonesian Authorities.


New Cases May End in March or April:
Now, are you ready for some really good news? 

If the number of new cases reported only stays at the same percentage increase per day as it is right now the number of new cases reported in early March or April will be down to two or three. 

That's right that's not a typo, two or three new cases. This means the spread of the virus could be over by March.

Countries around the world are taking drastic actions to prevent this disease from spreading such as quarantining everybody returning from China and stopping all flights to China.

There's a good chance that it may even slow down faster than I'm predicting and we could be seeing no new cases reported as early as mid-February.

Unfortunately, this still means that by the time it is over there will be 70,000 to 100,000 cases diagnosed worldwide and 1% to 3% of them will sadly pass. 

Primarily again those will be those with weakened immune systems which are primarily older people who already have diseases. 
"At this point, there's reason to have hope."

Of course, there are a lot of variables involved in this deadly disease.
Many things can change overnight as they did last night.
 At this point, there's reason to have hope.
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About the Speaker Lawrence. Is the Owner, President and General Manager of 14-year-old Pt. Bali Affordable Lifestyles International (PT. B.A.L.I.). Doing Business as Best Asia Real Estate

His spouse and partner Azizah, is a fully licensed Indonesian Notaris with a master’s degree in Indonesian Law specializing in real estate, corporate and Foreign Marital documentation. 

Together they and their 100 + professional staff provide a one-stop professional, efficient location for Buying, Selling, Leasing and Renting Asian Real Estate.


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