Task Force COVID-19: Officials Asked To Be Open If Positive, This Is Not A Negative Stigma

Spokesperson for the Task Force (Task Force) Handling COVID-19 Wiku Adisasmito (Photo: BNPB document)

JAKARTA - A number of officials have tested positive for COVID-19. However, only a few of them convey it to the public.

Responding to this, Wiku Adisasmito, spokesperson for the Task Force (Task Force) for handling COVID-19 asked them to be open about their health status to the public.

Wiku said, they don't need to worry about getting a negative stigma. Because, the delivery of this information is solely for transparency to the public.

"This is a form of public transparency and there is no need to be afraid of being a negative stigma against public officials," Wiku said in an online press conference broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat YouTube account, Thursday, September 17.

After all, this virus does not recognize position or social status. This is because anyone can be exposed without exception and it does not only happen in Indonesia but also in various countries in the world, so there is no need to cover it up.

In addition, announcing publicly if you are positive for COVID-19 will make it easier for close contact tracing to trace transmission. Moreover, currently many infections occur in a number of clusters such as office clusters to government agencies.

"We really ask that the entire community, all office leaders, can really protect themselves to protect their relatives and colleagues so that there will be no more victims. All of this depends on us all in changing our behavior to carry out health protocols," he said.

It is known that a number of officials have recently tested positive for COVID-19. One of them is DKI Jakarta Regional Secretary Saeful, who died from this virus.

In addition, there is also the Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Edhy Prabowo who tested positive for COVID-19. However, until now there has been no official statement from the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries.

The statement regarding Edhy's condition was actually first delivered by the Deputy Chairman of Commission IV of the DPR RI Daniel Johan and the latest news was delivered by Gerindra Party Spokesperson Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, who said that Edhy had currently been declared negative.