Indonesian President Joko Widodo said Monday the country has confirmed its first cases of coronavirus, saying two Indonesians, a mother and her daughter, have tested positive.
"A Japanese person came to Indonesia and met with the two, the mother, who is 64 years old and her 31-year-old daughter," said Widodo.
He said that Indonesian authorities had conducted tests on anyone known to have come into contact with the Japanese woman, who had recently visited Jakarta and was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Feb. 27.
The Japanese national lives in Kuala Lumpur, he said.
[Photo courtesy of National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Japan]
Indonesia had previously maintained a claim of being coronavirus-free, although doubts were being raised over the effectiveness of monitoring and testing efforts by local health authorities.
Indonesia said, as of Sunday, it has tested 333 samples taken from people who had shown symptoms or had traveled to infected countries. All but the two cases came back negative for the virus.
The country evacuated 238 Indonesian nationals from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.
Last week, another 188 Indonesian nationals were rescued from the World Dream cruise ship in Hong Kong and were quarantined on Sebaru Island, an uninhabited island off Jakarta.
On Sunday, 69 Indonesian nationals were evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, docked in Yokohama, Japan, and were also transferred to the island.
Related coverage:
Coronavirus outbreak latest: March 2, 2020
School closures begin as Japan steps up coronavirus fight
Coronavirus cases continue to surge in South Korea, top 4,200
