Task Force Asks Local Government To Reactivate Village-level COVID-19 Command Post

Spokesperson of COVID-19 Handling Task Force, Prof Wiku Adisasmito/SPECIAL

JAKARTA - The COVID-19 Task Force asked the local government to reactivate the village-level COVID-19 handling post.

"The number of command posts that monitor compliance in the regions has decreased over the past nine weeks," said Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force, Prof. Wiku Adisasmito, quoted by Antara, Thursday, December 9.

He stated that the highest number of monitoring reports was recorded on October 3, 2021, which was 5.5 million reports, but this week only 3 million reports came in.

"The decline in reporting the performance of village or sub-district level posts needs to be a concern," he continued.

In addition, he continued, attention should be paid to 17 provinces that have not reported the establishment of command posts for two weeks, namely Bali, Banten Gorontalo, Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, and Riau Islands.

In addition, Maluku, North Maluku, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Papua, West Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, West Sumatra and South Sumatra.

Wiku also said that the government continues to strengthen it from the curative side. In the midst of efforts to control the number of cases, the readiness of health facilities to handle COVID-19 patients is an aspect that must also continue to be considered.

"So far, Indonesia is still maintaining its preparedness, as can be seen from the data on beds for COVID-19, which tend to be fixed and have not been converted back," he said.

However, in some provinces, there has been an increase in bed occupancy ratio (BOR) for isolation purposes. "We have to increase our vigilance," said Wiku.

He explained that provinces that showed an increase in BOR, among others, East Nusa Tenggara, experienced an increase from 8.97 percent on December 7, 2021, to 10.31 percent the day after.

Central Kalimantan, there was an increase from 1.51 percent as of December 5, 2021, to 2.14 percent on December 8, 2021, Gorontalo increased from zero percent on December 5 to 1.11 percent as of December 8.

Papua saw an increase from 10.65 percent on December 5 to 11.26 percent on December 8. Aceh rose from 3.62 percent as of December 3 to 7.61 percent on December 8, 2021.

And in Central Java, there was an increase from 2.02 percent on December 5, 2021, to 2.38 percent as of December 8, 2021.

"We have seen some unfavorable developments, especially in some areas," he said.

Wiku emphasized that it is important to prevent cases from rising during the Christmas and New Year periods from now on.

"During the Christmas and New Year period, every indication of an increase will be given attention to ensure there is no increase in cases during this period," he said.