I didn't realise there were so many indonesians in China. A quick count suggests 100k of them there, working or studying.
I would have thought these were chinese indonesians, but this report suggests otherwise. These are Indonesian natives who learnt mandarin to study and work there.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...nesia-natuna-quarantine-tents-health-12442200
I would have thought these were chinese indonesians, but this report suggests otherwise. These are Indonesian natives who learnt mandarin to study and work there.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...nesia-natuna-quarantine-tents-health-12442200
Asia Diary from Indonesia’s Natuna: Tents, health checks and communal games in COVID-19 quarantine centre
A total of 285 Indonesians were quarantined for 14 days on Natuna island. (Photo: Zakia Ayu Alvita Abidin Putri)
By Kiki Siregar
18 Feb 2020 06:07AM (Updated: 18 Feb 2020 10:35AM)
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JAKARTA: It was the early dawn on Feb 2 but Ms Zakia Ayu Alvita Abidin Putri was fully awake, eagerly waiting with her luggage at Wuhan’s airport.
The 20-year-old Indonesian student had been anticipating her departure from Wuhan, the epicentre of the deadly COVID-19 outbreak.
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With 237 others, most of whom were students, Ms Putri belonged to a group of Indonesian citizens who were about to be evacuated from Hubei province to Indonesia on a Batik Air flight.
READ: Garuda grounds aircraft after passenger on Bali-Shanghai flight tested positive for COVID-19
“The evacuation was not compulsory. But we wanted to go home given the circumstances,” she recounted to CNA on Monday (Feb 17).
The Indonesian embassy had coordinated the evacuation and the group was informed beforehand that they would need to be quarantined for 14 days upon their arrival in Indonesia.
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Only when Ms Putri and her friend arrived at Wuhan’s airport were they told that the quarantine site is on the remote island of Natuna, which lies on the fringe of the South China Sea.
Even though Natuna was remote, she was familiar with the place as the Indonesian student association in Hubei has been raising funds to set up a library there.
READ: ‘Bali remains safe’, says provincial health agency after Chinese tourist tested positive for COVID-19
Zakia Ayu Alvita Abidin Putri posed in Wuhan city a day before the city was locked down. (Photo: Zakia Ayu Alvita Abidin Putri)
The quarantine period ended last Saturday, with the evacuees flown to Jakarta, after which they returned to their home provinces.
In an interview, Ms Putri spoke about the routine in Natuna, and how the group had kept its spirits up through communal activities.
“WE TRIED TO REMAIN CALM”
Recounting how it all started, Ms Putri, a medical student of Hubei Polytechnic University in Huangshi about 100 km southeast of Wuhan, said she was on holiday in Wuhan when it was locked down on Jan 23.
“At first we felt normal because we were embracing positive thinking like: ‘Oh, perhaps this is only for a few days,’” she said.
Zakia Ayu Alvita Abidin Putri has been studying in Hubei Polytechnic University in Huangshi for four years. (Photo: Zakia Ayu Alvita Abidin Putri)
“We tried to remain calm, but from day six onwards, the news about us being locked down became frightening. It was actually not that scary but our parents were worried after seeing the news back home.
“We then became a bit unstable (emotionally),” she added.
She and her friends started to receive more messages from home, asking about their well-being.
Discussions in the Indonesian students of Hubei group on WeChat became more intense, with some starting to panic.
When they learnt that the Indonesian embassy planned to evacuate citizens in Hubei, Ms Putri and her friends jumped at the offer.
After about six hours of flight, the group landed in Ranai, Natuna where they were brought to the quarantine centre at a military airport hangar.
READ: Indonesia deploys 4 additional warships to Natuna amid standoff with Chinese vessels
MEDICAL ATTENTION ROUND THE CLOCK
Once the evacuees arrived on Natuna, they underwent a health check.
Medical staff checked their temperature, blood pressure and looked for other signs that might indicate if one has contracted COVID-19.
If someone displayed symptoms of the disease, a more in-depth examination would have taken place, but Ms Putri said none of them showed any signs of it during the 14-day quarantine period.
Medical officers prepare evacuated Indonesian nationals from Wuhan, China's center of the coronavirus epidemic, before transferring them to the Natuna Islands military base to be quarantined, at Hang Nadim Airport in Batam, Riau Islands. (Photo: Reuters)
“Our temperature was measured daily, in the morning and late afternoon. Our blood pressure was also checked four times a day,” she revealed.
Apart from doctors, there was also mental health staff such as a psychologist and psychiatrist available for them.
The quarantine site also had an intensive emergency unit, a special isolation room, and was fully equipped with medical facilities, noted the medical student.
Some suffered from diarrhea during their stay in Natuna, but Ms Putri said they soon recovered after receiving medication.
Local media reported that some under quarantine had suffered from diarrhea due to contaminated water.
READ: Indonesians with travel history to Singapore will not be barred from returning home: Indonesian embassy
There were three hangars for the evacuees. Apart from the Indonesians living in Hubei province, the Batik Air crew and other officials involved in the evacuation process such as embassy staff were also quarantined on Natuna, making it 285 in all.
About twenty people shared a tent with air conditioning and a television. Each had their own bed.
Images of the quarantine site soon circulated online and there were concerns raised over whether it was safe for the evacuees to be in such close proximity.
Local Natuna residents had also wondered if the regency was adequately equipped to accommodate them, and to deal with possible medical emergencies.
READ: Indonesia says no need to test citizens evacuated from Wuhan for novel coronavirus as they are healthy
Ms Putri claimed she and her friends didn’t mind living in close proximity. She said this helped her bond with the others and make new friends.
“It was nice to share because I got lots of (new) friends. If we had been separated, I would have felt isolated and lonely.”
Ms Putri said the quarantine centre had everything they needed to make their stay as comfortable as possible.
It had toilets and bathrooms, a table tennis table, a karaoke machine, guitars and other entertainment facilities.
“So we kept ourselves entertained. We sang songs together. We were always happy,” she said.
Indonesia has not reported any case of COVID-19 so far.
