Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NT (ANTARA) - Doni Monardo, Chief of the Task Force for the Acceleration of COVID-19 Response, reminded the East Nusa Tenggara government to remain vigilant in watching for outbreaks of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF).
"We need to remind the NTT government to not only focus on COVID-19 cases, but also to anticipate the emergence of dengue during the transition season," said Doni Monardo, during a teleconference with the Deputy Governor of Nusa Tenggara, Josef A Nae Soi.
The statement was quoted by Marius Ardu Jelamu, spokesman of the NTT administration, during a press conference here on Thursday.
Monardo also called upon local authorities to remind local residents to maintain cleanliness in their homes, gutters, wells, and bathrooms, where disease-carrying mosquitoes reproduce.
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"The community must routinely clean up their respective environments so that NTT inhabitants are free from dengue fever outbreak," said Doni.
Additionally, Doni praised the East Nusa Tenggara Government for their work in preventing increases in the spread of COVID-19 cases. He noted that NTT was still relatively safe from the serious threat of COVID-19.
Dengue occurs year-round in Indonesia, with peak transmissions in the rainy season, from November through April. Cases are frequently reported in East Java, Jakarta, and in Bali.
According to data from the Indonesian Health Ministry released in March 2020, 17,820 cases of dengue fever had been recorded since January this year, with at least 104 fatalities nationwide, including 32 deaths in NTT.
The most reported cases of dengue fever were in Lampung province, with 3,431, followed by 2,732 cases in East Nusa Tenggara, which reported the highest number of cases occurred in Sikka District, with 1,216 as of early March.
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In East Java, which has recorded at least 1,761 cases of dengue fever, as many as 15 people have died, with nine fatalities recorded in February and six in January, said the provincial health agency head, Herlin Herliana.
