Witnesses Call Positive Cases Of COVID-19 In Megamendung Down After The Rizieq Shihab Event

Rizieq Shihab / Antara

JAKARTA - The number of positive cases of COVID-19 in Bogor decreased after the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Megamendung Islamic Markaz Islamic Boarding School by Habib Rizieq Shihab.

This was conveyed by the Head of the Surveillance and Immunization Section of the Bogor District Government Health Office Adang Mulyana when testifying for the defendant Rizieq Shihab.

This was conveyed by Adang when one of Rizieq's lawyer members questioned about Megamendung District which was in the red zone for the spread of COVID-19.

Then, Adang said that Megamendung District had entered the red zone. However, he did not remember the exact time.

"When there was the first positive case Megamendung was already red (zone)", said Adang in a trial at the East Jakarta District Court, Monday, April 26.

"When is it?", asked Rizieq's lawyer.

"I don't know for sure. I forgot", said Adang.

Then, Rizieq's lawyer re-elaborated his question. Adang was asked to explain whether there was a trend of increasing positive cases of COVID-19 after the event at the Markaz Syariah Islamic Boarding School.

"Do you still remember, based on the data, was there an up or downtrend in the crowd after the event?" asked Rizieq's lawyer.

"Megamendung District was a case 2 weeks before 13 (November 2020, groundbreaking) there were 13 cases. Then after 13 (November), there were 8 additional positive cases in Megamendung District", he said.

Furthermore, Rizireq's lawyer also asked Adang to describe the number of positive cases in Megamendung District each per month at the end of 2020.

"For October there were 52 cases, November 21 cases, December 18 cases, January 35 cases. That's data that came to us", said Adang.

In his indictment, the public prosecutor said that the crowd that Rizieq had created in Megamendung had led to an increase in the number of people confirmed positive for COVID-19 in Bogor Regency.

The incident is also considered to have hindered the efforts of the Bogor Regency Government in monitoring and overcoming the spread of COVID-19.