Twenty-two inmates held in police custody in Pariaman City, West Sumatra have tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the city’s Health Office confirmed on Monday.
"We have received a report from the laboratory of Andalas University (Unand) in Padang that 36 more people, most of them inmates, have tested positive for COVID-19," chief of the Pariaman City Health Office, Syahrul, said here on Monday.
The 22 inmates are among 40 who took swab tests a few days ago, he added.
With the 22 inmates contracting the virus, detention houses constituted a COVID-19 cluster with the highest number of additional cases on Monday, he said.
The remaining 14 COVID-19 patients comprise police officers and their families, and local residents.
"We will trace the history of contact (with COVID-19 patients) and their families," Syahrul said.
To contain the spread of COVID-19 in correctional facilities, tens of thousands of inmates have been released early or granted parole.
The Indonesian Task Force for COVID-19 Response on Monday reported 2,743 fresh cases in the country over a 24-hour period, bringing the total case tally to 174,796. Meanwhile, with 1,774 more people recovering from the infection, the total recoveries have reached 125,959.
Furthermore, 74 people have succumbed to COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 7,417. The Indonesian government announced its first confirmed COVID-19 cases on March 2, 2020.
With 15,305 additional samples examined, the total number of specimens examined in the country has so far reached 2,239,642.
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Editor : Mahdani
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