Jokowi Talks About The Increasing COVID-19 Cases In North Sumatra, Governor Edy: It Has Decreased Today

MEDAN - President Joko Widodo highlighted the increase in COVID-19 cases in 5 provinces outside Java-Bali. One of the provinces mentioned is North Sumatra.

The Governor of North Sumatra, Edy Rahmayadi, explained that currently, his region is experiencing a decline in active cases, although it is still above 1.000 cases.

"(Latest data) is 1.036 cases from (previous day) 1.500. It has dropped today, hopefully, it will continue to decline. (We are) ranked 5th outside Java-Bali", said Governor Edy in Medan, Tuesday, August 10.

Governor Edy hopes that the community will be disciplined in implementing health protocols. The goal is that the number of corona spreads in North Sumatra can be suppressed.

"For that, we have to protect our population, whose population is 15 million. For this reason, journalists, the press participate in socializing this. Please provide education, obey health protocols, wear masks, maintain distance and wash hands", he said.

In addition, Governor Edy also asked the public not to carry out activities outside the home if it was not so important. He asked the public to stay away from places that create crowds.

Governor Edy reminded the public not to hold weddings and so on during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The temporary party resulted in our agreement, the Police, Military Area Command (Pangdam), High Prosecutor (Kajati), there was no wedding party. It could be a marriage contract or a blessing. There is a church and a temple, he limits the attendance of only 25 people, if that is violated, I'm sorry the officers will dissolve it", he explained.

Previously, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said that the surge in COVID-19 cases had now shifted from the islands of Java-Bali to other islands over the past two weeks. Therefore, Jokowi asked his staff to respond quickly to this shift.

"Quick response. What we need now is a quick response because it seems that this is a shift from Java-Bali to outside Java-Bali", said President Jokowi while chairing the Level 4 Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) Development Evaluation and Follow-up Meeting, Saturday, August 7.

Jokowi explained that there were a number of provinces that experienced a significant increase in COVID-19 cases on Friday, August 6, namely North Sumatra, Riau, and West Sumatra. Jokowi immediately ordered his staff including the National Armed Force (TNI) Commander and the National Police Chief to remind their members to respond quickly to the increase in cases.

"I have ordered the Commander (Panglima), the National Police Chief (Kapolri) to really remind the Pangdam, Regional Police Chief (Kapolda), and Danrem, Dandim, and Police Chief (Kapolres) to really respond to the numbers I conveyed earlier. Because speed is needed there", he said.

Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases in North Sumatra, based on National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) data as of Monday, August 9, was 72.884 people. The number of recovered patients was 46.128 people, while the number of patients who died was 1.691 people.