Jakarta Provincial Government Officials Report Positive, DPRD: COVID-19 Is Not A Disgrace To Be Hidden

Deputy Chairman of DKI Jakarta DPRD Muhammad Taufik (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairman of DKI Jakarta DPRD Muhammad Taufik has asked the Provincial Government (Pemprov) of DKI Jakarta to be open to announce which regional officials are positively exposed to the corona virus (COVID-19).

"Being exposed to COVID-19 is not a disgrace to be hidden, but it is important to do a contact tracing," said Taufik when contacted by Antara, as reported by Antara, Jakarta, Saturday, September 12.

Taufik emphasized that the provincial government does not need to cover up any officials who are exposed to COVID, because it is in the public interest.

Taufik gave an example, when he received information that the DKI regional secretary was suspected of being exposed to the corona virus, he immediately carried out an independent swab test.

"Because of his own awareness, a few days before we met in an activity," said Taufik.

The DKI Jakarta COVID-19 Task Force has not issued an official statement regarding the circulation of information about a mayor in Jakarta and the DKI Regional Secretary who is suspected of being positive for COVID-19.

Separately, the Chairman of Commission A DPRD DKI Mujiono stated that he suspected that there were certain reasons so that the provincial government did not announce a regional official who was positive for COVID-19.

"Maybe the reason is so as not to cause panic and not disturb the work team so that it can keep going together," said Mujiono.

Previously, DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan officially "slammed on the emergency brake" which revoked the transitional PSBB policy and returned it to the tightened PSBB policy, starting Monday, September 14 2020.

Anies stated that the decision was made for Jakarta, because of the three indicators that the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government really cares about, namely the death rate, the availability of isolation beds and special ICU for COVID-19 and the rate of positive cases in Jakarta.