Surabaya Cluster Appears, City Government Holds Swab Hunter

Swab hunters in Surabaya (DOK. City Government of Surabaya)

SURABAYA - The Surabaya City Government (Pemkot) ensures that it will continue to intensify supervision and enforcement of health protocols to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic. Hunter's Swab Team combing the offices.

The Acting Mayor (Plt) of the Mayor of Surabaya, Whisnu Sakti Buana, currently the COVID-19 case was found in an office or workplace environment. However, Whisnu did not explain the details of the office in question.

"That's why we are working on the Hunter Swab Team again, and earlier in the report, there were many office clusters found, so that later they will target offices as well," said Whisnu in the Surabaya Mayor's office, Tuesday, January 5.

Therefore, if a confirmed COVID-19 case is found, the Surabaya City Government will not only carry out a mass swab at the patient's residence. However, mass swabs will also be carried out in the office environment or the patient's workplace.

"If there are confirmed patients, besides we do a swab at their place of residence, we will also do a mass swab in their office. So to minimize the spread of cases so as not to increase in number," he explained.

Whisnu hopes that offices or workplaces can cooperate and support the Surabaya City Government's steps in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

"We are the ones who carry out the swab, meaning they (office parties) are not burdened, except for those outside the city of Surabaya," he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary IV of the Surabaya COVID-19 Handling Acceleration Task Force who is also the Head of BPB Linmas, Irvan Widyanto, said that the Hunter Swab Team would carry out mass swabs at the patient's residence and at their workplace or office as well.

"Apart from that, we will also search the office, perhaps there is a violation of the health protocol. Have we implemented the health protocol or not," said Irvan.

The health protocols in question include opening room ventilation by not depending on circulation to central air conditioning, maintaining a distance in each room with 50 percent of the room's capacity, forming an independent task force in each work unit or office, including checking temperature, washing hands and wearing masks.

"In fact, we will also check later whether we have avoided the use of tools communally," he said.

So, if there is a violation of health protocols in the workplace, besides being exposed to hunter swab operations, they can also be sanctioned according to the Regulation of the Mayor (Perwali) of Surabaya City number 67 of 2020 concerning the application of health protocols in order to prevent and break the chain of spreading COVID-19 in the city of Surabaya.

"Until now, Perwali number 67 is still in the socialization stage and in the future it will enter the stage of prosecution, so that if there are many violations in the workplace, sanctions will be carried out according to Perwali 67," he said.

Therefore, he reminded residents of Surabaya City not to be lax in maintaining and obeying health protocols wherever they are, including at work. "We must not be lax in maintaining health protocols. In our opinion, the best vaccine is behavior change with unusual habits, in that way, God willing, COVID-19 in Surabaya will be over soon," said Irvan.