A Few Problems Make It Difficult To Handle COVID-19 In Makassar

JAKARTA - Makassar City is the region with the highest COVID-19 cases in South Sulawesi Province. As of Tuesday, June 9, cases of COVID-19 in Makassar reached 1,137 people, out of a total of 2,194 cases in South Sulawesi.

The high number of cases in Makassar started with the Ijtima Ulama participant cluster in Gowa and spread via local transmission from people who have been infected with COVID-19.

Due to the high rate of transmission, Makassar falls into the red zone. South Sulawesi Governor Nurdin Abdullah admits that it is difficult to tide the curve of the COVID-19 case in Makassar.

"Yesterday there was a concession made by the Makassar City Government, so we have a little trouble too," said Nurdin in a discussion broadcast by BNPB Indonesia, Wednesday, June 10.

Nurdin said the handling of COVID-19 in Makassar was controlled due to a lack of coordination by the city government. This is because there is a change of leadership in Makassar City and it was only on May 13 that it was filled by Acting Mayor of Makassar Iqbal Suhaeb.

"In fact, we hope, because Makassar is because of the main epicenter of transmission, we want to handle it even more quickly. But, because yesterday there was a change of mayor officials, so there was miscommunication in determining policies," Nurdin explained.

In addition, a new problem arose, namely a banner that read the rejection of the COVID-19 rapid test in Makassar. It is feared that this will provoke the public to distrust the government in handling COVID-19.

"But, thank God, the South Sulawesi Regional Police are working hard to find people whose provocations are not supportive," said Nurdin.

Therefore, currently the South Sulawesi Provincial Government will intensify education to the public to continue implementing the COVID-19 prevention protocol. Second, the government will continue to actively conduct massive contact tracing to look for people infected with COVID-19.

"We are grateful that we were able to increase our laboratory capacity from a capacity of 350 specimens per day, so now we can reach 800 per day," he said.

Then, Nurdin will create a legal basis that regulates the community so that it can be productive and safe from COVID-19. "We cannot take this matter lightly. We have not found the vaccine, the cure is not available yet, so we must continue to encourage people to protect themselves more," he concluded.