First COVID-19 Case Confirmed in Returning Korean from Jakarta... Growing Anxiety in Korean Expat Community

On the 31st of last month (local time), in Bali, Indonesia, a police water cannon vehicle sprayed disinfectant on the road amid concerns about the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] A Korean who returned home through Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, has been diagnosed with COVID-19. Five Koreans who returned from Bali, Indonesia, had previously tested positive, but this is the first case of a Korean infected who departed from Jakarta.

According to Incheon City on the 4th, A (71), a resident of Gyeyang-gu who had been staying in Indonesia for business purposes since October last year, tested positive for COVID-19 after returning through Incheon Airport on the 2nd. A entered the country asymptomatic, was tested for COVID-19 at the Gyeyang-gu Public Health Center on the 3rd, and received a positive result that day.

It was confirmed that A returned on an Asiana Airlines passenger flight from Jakarta to Incheon on the 1st. An Incheon City official stated, "The person departed from Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Jakarta." The Korean Embassy in Indonesia and Asiana Airlines Indonesia branch are currently investigating details related to A.

Until now, there had been no confirmed COVID-19 cases among Korean residents or expatriates in Indonesia. However, since A stayed in Indonesia for six months and tested positive immediately after returning, it is highly likely that the infection occurred locally. This inevitably increases anxiety within the local Korean community.

Meanwhile, a couple in their 30s from Dongjak-gu, Seoul, who returned from Bali, Indonesia, on the 3rd, also tested positive for COVID-19. They are the 4th and 5th confirmed cases among Koreans returning from Bali. They arrived on the morning of the 2nd on a Bali-Incheon passenger flight and were immediately tested at the Dongjak-gu Public Health Center. They received positive results on the 3rd.

Previously, the 43rd confirmed case in Sejong City (a man in his 40s), the 21st confirmed case in Songpa-gu (a 33-year-old man), and the 50th confirmed case in Pohang City (a man in his 30s) were all diagnosed with COVID-19 shortly after arriving from Bali last month.