The Community Health Center in East Denpasar (Puskesmas I Denpasar Timur) closed temporarily on Wednesday, 23 September until at least Monday, 28 September 2020, when 13 members of their medical personnel tested positive for COVID-19.
As quoted by the State News Agency Antara, the head of the Puskesmas, Dr. IGA Mirah Herawati said on Thursday, 24 September: “Originally there were six people who tested positive with the total number of positive cases eventually rising to 13 on Wednesday evening. We have conducted an additional 12 Swab Tests and are still waiting for the results.”
Among the 13 testing positive for COVID were a doctor, midwife, nurse, analyst, pharmacist, a receptionist, cleaning service, and a driver.
Hermawati said the Puskesmas would reopen on Monday, 28 September, using available staff providing medical services to the best of their reduced capabilities.
The 13 workers are young and asymptomatic. As a result, they have been sent to their homes to undergo a period of self-isolation. Hermawati thinks outside sources may have infected those infected by COVID-19 because of the strict requirement that personal protection equipment (PPE) be used in the course of performing their official duties.
Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Denpasar COVID-19 Task Force for the Mitigation of COVID-19, I Dewa Dede Rai, calculates that to date, 160 medical personnel working in Bali have tested positive.
