National Police Chief Reminds North Sumatra To Anticipate COVID-19 Spike During Christmas-New Year: Please Avoid Year-End Parties

National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo/Polri Public Relations

JAKARTA - National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo reminded the ranks of the North Sumatran Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda) to anticipate the year-end spike in COVID-19.

"Year-end party activities related to concerts and celebrations, please avoid this in anticipation of a spike," said General Sigit, quoted by Antara, Wednesday, November 3.

Sigit asked Forkopimda North Sumatra not to be careless and negligent in handling COVID-19, although currently positive cases of COVID-19 are under control, they must remain vigilant by disciplining health protocols and accelerating vaccinations.

According to the National Police Chief, people's movements are still regulated and restricted so as not to violate the provisions of the health protocol, causing crowds that have the potential to transmit COVID-19 transmission at the Nataru moment.

"Please adjust to the SOPs that have been regulated at airport posts, highways and ports. Then, intensify the PeduliLindung application," he emphasized.

Not only that, for the implementation of worship, Sigit also reminded that the implementation should be coordinated according to the conditions of the place of worship, whether it is possible to worship offline or online.

"Worship activities must be discussed in which places are carried out virtually and directly. Please discuss, in the North Sumatra area there are around 6,623 churches, these must be prepared properly. Worship can take place, but the pace of COVID-19 can be maintained," said the National Police Chief.

In addition, Sigit conveyed the message of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), so that all parties do not be careless and negligent in handling and controlling COVID-19, which is currently getting better.

Acceleration of vaccinations, disciplined application of health protocols (prokes) and good care of COVID-19 patients must continue.

According to Sigit, the current good achievements must be maintained. Among them is preparing anticipation to prevent a spike in the SARS-CoV-2 type of Corona virus during the 2021 Christmas and 2022 New Year celebrations.

"The President's message is that the current daily figures can change if we are careless. Every holiday there is an increase. In July the daily cases reached 56 thousand, but today it is at 612. This must be maintained. It can be seen from the declining positive cases. as well as active cases. This is the result of the hard work of all of you," said Sigit.

According to him, North Sumatra's Forkopimda must anticipate at airports, ports, stations, terminals and others. This effort is to prevent a surge in people who want to return to their hometowns during the Christmas celebrations.

Meanwhile, at the New Year celebrations, Sigit emphasized to Forkopimda not to hold activities that could trigger crowds such as concerts or other musical celebrations.

Sigit also believes the Forkopimda of North Sumatra can anticipate and prevent the daily spike in COVID-19 cases. The key is the synergy and solidity between the TNI, Polri, local government, religious leaders, traditional leaders and community leaders.

"Some time ago PON was held in Papua and there was a cluster spike, although it was not significant. Contingents came from all provinces and thank God there was no increase in clusters, there was healing, this is our optimism, we hope to hold the next event," said the National Police Chief.

Therefore, Sigit asked the Forkopimda of North Sumatra to maintain the current positive trend of handling and controlling COVID-19. Given, Indonesia ranks first in doing so in Southeast Asia.

"In line with the government and all of our colleagues, we are ranked first in Southeast Asia for the best handling of COVID-19. This number is something we can be proud of. But we must not be careless, if we ignore it, the risk of a third wave can occur," he said.

In addition to chairing a meeting with North Sumatra's Forkopimda, the TNI Commander and the National Police Chief also reviewed the mass vaccination at Benteng Field, Medan City, which was attended by 33 districts/cities in North Sumatra.

Sigit also took the time to greet several representatives virtually. On that occasion, one of Sigit's concerns was the number and stock of vaccines, as well as the implementation of face-to-face learning.