The Indonesian government has appealed to the public to keep wearing masks at home to minimise potential COVID-19 transmission within family clusters.
“We still have to wear masks, these masks are not only to be worn outside the home, but we also have to indoors. Especially when there are vulnerable groups in our families, such as toddlers as well as the elderly,” said the Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA), I Gusti Bintang Ayu Dharmawati.
According to her, it’s common to find that when one family member is still active outside the home, they can transmit the virus to other family members at home.
“The health protocol in the future is directed at how to prevent families from being infected with COVID-19. Also, to regulate when a family is exposed and what steps must be taken,” she explained.
The minister said that President Joko Widodo has asked her department to pay attention to the spike in cases in the family cluster. Since early September, the increase in family clusters is quite significant.
She reminded people not to interact with family members at home before showering after doing outside activities outside. She also asked that people reduce physical family events and hold them online instead.
When a family member is found confirmed positive with COVID-19, other family members must immediately report to the health centre or the local health service. This is so that the local task force can directly carry out polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.
Additional cases from family clusters were found in Yogyakarta and Bogor. In early September 2020, there were seven family clusters in Yogyakarta.
Source: CNN Indonesia