Although COVID-19 Cases Rise, Bantul Does Not Close Tourist Attractions, This Is The Reason

Visitors play "Stand Up Paddle" on the Oyo River, Selopamioro, Imogiri, Bantul, DI Yogyakarta/ Antara

BANTUL - The Bantul Regency Government, Special Region of Yogyakarta stated that there are no plans to close tourist attractions, even though cases of COVID-19 transmission have increased in recent days.

"The government is also mandated to carry out economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, so that to this day the local government has not or does not plan to close tourist attractions," said Bantul Regent Abdul Halim Muslih in Bantul, as reported by Antara, Monday, January 31.

According to him, he did not take the policy of closing tourist attractions in the midst of the threat of the Omicron variant because economic activity in tourist attractions has started to get crowded, and the economic recovery of the community has begun to appear after being slumped due to the pandemic.

"In the sense that there is income to the community, then we will continue to allow the industry to operate, especially since the handicraft industry has also started exporting," he said.

The Regent said that seeing this condition means that the economic recovery can occur with leniency policies in production and in activities that bring in a lot of people, even though it is risky.

"We know that it is risky, but the important thing is that even if the Omicron attacks us, it is asymptomatic, so it is not immediately taken to the hospital, but can be self-isolated," he said.

He said, even from the results of the Bantul Health Service (Dinkes) study, people who were exposed to the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in a week had disappeared, after doing isolation and treatment according to the directions of medical officers.

"On average those who get Omicron are only a week old and without symptoms, so there's no need to worry too much, if you get Omicron, just isolate yourself, and on average OTG (people without symptoms)," he said. What must be done is to be disciplined in implementing health protocols, because lately people have tended to be a bit slack in prokes, because they think the pandemic is over, after in Bantul there were zero new cases some time ago.

"The government has not declared the pandemic is over, moreover there is an Omicron variant that spreads from Jakarta, while Jakarta-Yogyakarta has a close relationship, the proof is that there are thousands of people transport to and from the two cities every day, so we have to re-implement strict procedures," he said.

According to data from the Bantul COVID-19 Task Force, as of Sunday, January 30, the total number of positive cases was 57,492 people, with 55,860 recovered, while 1,571 people died, bringing the total to 61 patients who are still in isolation.