PopCorns Story - Joey Schouten, a Dutch citizen who was
suspected to be a patient infected with the first Corona virus in Indonesia,
told Tempo about the height of the news in Indonesia about him. In a number of
reports, Joey was said to have been treated at Aisyiyah Hospital, Malang, East
Java, in mid-January 2020.
Speaking
to Tempo, Joey said that he was treated in three hospitals when he was ill.
"I was treated at Budi SSR in Blitar, RSI Aisyiyah, and Saiful Anwar
Malang Hospital, in mid-January," he said when contacted on March 27,
2020.
Joey
talked about the WhatsApp message he received from Dr. Dhea Daritsh from Aisyiyah
Hospital, Malang. At that time, he received a message containing, "Hello
mas Joey, I am Dhea Daritsh from RSI Aisyiyah Malang. From the results of
previous blood tests we can give you the results that you tested positive for
the Corona virus (COVID-19) during your stay in the hospital."
Joey
thought that the message was sent by someone from the reception. "And my
guess is that he uses a nickname, not an official name."
During
treatment, the hospital never talked about the Corona virus. At that time, he
said, the Corona virus was still something new. He did not know about the
virus. "So I didn't connect that possibility with what I suffered,"
Joey said.
Joey,
according to the Eindhovens Dagblad newspaper, who had just graduated from
graphic design studies at Helmond, flew to Singapore at the beginning of
January. There, he took a walk to Chinatown. Many tourists from China are also
there to shop before the Chinese New Year.
From
Singapore Joey flew to East Java, and a few days after that he fell ill.
"Suddenly I had a 41 degree fever. For the first time in my life, I
fainted," Joey was quoted as saying by the Dutch newspaper.
During
the nine days Joey was treated at Aisyiyah Hospital, he was infused and
examined by ultrasound. The blood is drawn up to six times. The doctors thought
he had a severe cold and gave him various medicines. "I only slept in the
hospital, I was really weak," said Joey.
While
in the hospital, Joey read the news about the mysterious virus in Wuhan that
was spreading rapidly in Asia, but he did not think that what he was suffering
from was related to the Corona virus. The hospital doctor also did not test his
blood for the Corona virus.
Joey
finally recovered and soon returned to the Netherlands. First he visited his
mother in Helmond, a small town in the south of the Netherlands, then to his
father's place in Malaga, Spain. But one week after he arrived in Malaga, all
of Spain was locked down because of COVID-19. At that time Joey asked again
about his experience in Malang. "Is that really my disease?" That's
when he contacted the doctor who treated him in Malang, who finally confirmed
Joey on March 19, he was positive for the Corona virus.
Responding
to the news in Indonesia who questioned the truth of his information, Joey said
that he still kept the WhatsApp messages he received, as well as accounts from
the hospital.
Source: https://nasional.tempo.co/read/1324875/cerita-wna-belanda-diduga-pasien-corona-pertama-di-indonesia
