Health Ministry Responds to Influencer's Measles Behaviour, But Goes Out in Public

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) has responded to the behaviour of influencer Ruce Nuenda, who should not have been active in public spaces after being infected with measles, given the disease’s highly contagious nature.

Acting Director-General of Disease Control at the Ministry of Health, Andi Saguni, said that measles is a highly contagious disease; even one measles patient can transmit the disease to many people around them at the same time.

‘Measles has a very high transmission rate. From one person it can spread to 12 to 18 people,’ Andi said at the online press conference updating measles cases in Indonesia, held in Jakarta, on Friday.

Therefore, he urged individuals who are sick with measles to limit outdoor activities until they are fully recovered to prevent spreading the disease to others.

According to Andi, public figures should be able to set a good behavioural example for the public.

‘As an influencer, they should not do that, because it can influence public perception and behaviour,’ he said.

He also urged the public who had met the public figure while they were ill to promptly carry out self-health monitoring.

If symptoms such as fever appear, especially accompanied by a skin rash, he asked the individual to immediately seek evaluation at health service facilities.

For information, influencer Ruce Nuenda recently came under scrutiny after posting an Instagram Story while exercising outdoors, despite being ill with measles.

She also showed photos of the red rashes appearing on the arms to the legs.

The posts elicited varied responses from netizens who judged the action as carrying a high risk of spreading the disease, particularly to vulnerable groups such as children and pregnant women.