COVID-19 Cases Soar, Gerindra Criticizes Weak Central Government Control

JAKARTA - Secretary-General of the Gerindra Party, Ahmad Muzani, said the spike in COVID-19 cases was due to the declining level of public awareness to comply with health protocols. But the control of the central government in handling COVID-19 has also been criticized.

Muzani understands that all parties feel prolonged boredom with the health protocol habits. However, he said, everyone still had to adhere to health protocols when doing their activities.

"So I urge all parties from the central, regional, village levels, RT/RW (Citizens Association) to the family level to re-aware of how important it is to comply with the health protocol", said Muzani to reporters, Tuesday, June 15.

On the other hand, the Deputy Chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly said that the increase in the number of positive COVID-19 in several provinces in Indonesia was also due to the weakening of control from the central government.

To increase this control, the central and regional governments must work together to reduce the number of transmissions in their respective regions.

"With this synergy, it is hoped that we can suppress the transmission of COVID. For example, by re-establishing COVID task force posts at the borders between provinces, cities, and regencies. Including strict supervision of health protocols in crowded centers such as in traditional markets, in malls, in offices, and also in tourist spots", said Muzani.

Muzani reminded that the government must not be careless to continue to urge the public to remain disciplined in health protocols. Including increasing COVID-19 vaccinations for people in all regions in Indonesia, especially in red zone areas as an effort to suppress transmission in these areas.

"In addition to complying with health protocols, efforts to increase the number of vaccinations are also important for the community to reduce the number of virus transmission", said Muzani.

The number of positive COVID-19 cases in Indonesia has increased significantly, reaching more than 7,000 people per day. Overall, the number of positive confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia has reached 1.9 million cases.

In this tenth stage of the extension of the Micro PPKM, regions with COVID-19 red zone status must carry out work from home (WFH) activities up to 75 percent.

The government then extended the implementation of micro-scale Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) starting today, Tuesday, June 15 to 28.

Along with the increasing number of positive cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia, even a variant of the coronavirus from India has become epidemic in Kudus, Central Java.