Banjarmasin Becomes PPKM Level 3, Mayor: Don't Panic!

Mayor of Banjarmasin H Ibn Sina

JAKARTA - Mayor of Banjarmasin H Ibnu Sina appealed to residents in the capital city of South Kalimantan Province not to panic over the status of the Level 3 Implementation of Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM).

Ibnu Sina speaking at the Banjarmasin State Polytechnic campus (Poliban) admitted that his city has been assigned PPKM level 3 status by the central government through the Instrument of the Minister of Home Affairs (Inmendagri) today.

"We will follow what is in the Ministry of Home Affairs regarding the determination of the PPKM level 3 status," said Ibnu, Tuesday, February 15, as reported by Antara.

However, said Ibnu Sina, according to President Joko Widodo's instructions not to panic the public regarding the determination of the PPKM for handling COVID-19.

He also conveyed to the community to continue to obey health protocols, including the rule that it must be 50 percent capacity at face-to-face meetings in public spaces.

"This new variant of COVID-19 called Omicron has a fast transmission, but also heals quickly, we hope that according to the Chancellor of Lambung Mangkurat University (ULM) Banjarmasin, Omicron is the end of a pandemic," said Ibnu Sina.

According to him, his current instruction is the socialization of the implementation of the PPKM level 3, in which the main step is currently accelerating the COVID-19 vaccination.

"There is a proposal for the PPKM Prokes raid, if there are those who have not been vaccinated, they will be vaccinated on the spot," he said.

He also said that the implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination in Banjarmasin City was indeed quite long for about 10 days, with active cases currently more than 2,000 people were exposed to COVID-19.

Therefore, said Ibnu Sina, all must return to strict health protocols, by always wearing masks, maintaining distance, avoiding crowds and diligently washing hands with soap.

"If there are symptoms of illness, it's better to just isolate yourself at home, eat nutritious foods," he said.