The DKI Provincial Government Has Not Planned A Special Covid-19 Test For The Crowds Of Rizieq Shihab's Followers

DOK.VOI / Mass supporters of Rizieq Shihab. (Diah Ayu Wardani)

JAKARTA - The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government has not planned to conduct a mass swab test on the supporters of FPI leader Muhammad Rizieq Shihab who joined the crowd some time ago.

Head of the Disease Prevention and Control Division of the DKI Health Service (Dinkes), Dwi Oktavia, said that his party still prioritizes testing for residents who experience symptoms.

This, said Dwi, is in accordance with the Fifth Revised Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) from the Ministry of Health.

"Testing is prioritized for symptomatic people. Do not let us, because we want to look far away, but people who have symptoms are not tested," Dwi said when contacted, Monday, November 16.

Dwi said it would be difficult to collect data again on the masses who attended the Prophet Muhammad's birthday and the wedding ceremony in Petamburan. This is because not all who attended were DKI residents.

"Participants who attend are from all over Jakarta, some even from outside Jakarta," he said.

Therefore, Dwi appealed to the public, especially those who had participated in the crowd, if they have symptoms of the corona virus, immediately conduct an examination at a health facility.

"Do not delay. If you delay because of fear, it means that the illness will be recognized too late so that it is late to be treated. In the end, it will pass on to other families and the loss will be even greater," Dwi explained.

Previously, an epidemiologist from the University of Indonesia, Syahrizal Syarif, suggested that the Jakarta Provincial Government conduct contact tracing (tracing) to COVID-19 testing for the masses of crowds in Petamburan. This is intended to suppress the spike in corona virus cases in the next few weeks.

"Just try to do a test, at least a rapid test for the initial stage. The people around the crowd were tracing," said Syarif.