Not Fulfilling The Criteria, Minister Of Health Terawan Rejects PSBB In Six Regions

Minister of Health Tewaran Agus Putranto (Diah Ayu Wardani / VOI)

JAKARTA - Minister of Health (Menkes) Terawan Agus Putranto rejected the application for Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) to 6 regions. As a result of being rejected, this area has not received legal force over restrictions and restrictions on a number of activities to prevent the transmission of COVID-19.

The regions that received the rejection were Rote Ndao Regency, East Nusa Tenggara on April 11; Sorong City, West Papua on April 12; Palangkaraya City, Central Kalimantan on April 12th.

Then, Fak Fak Regency, West Papua, received a rejection of the PSBB application on April 14; Boolang Mangondow Regency, North Sulawesi on April 15; and Gorontalo City, Gorontalo on April 19.

Terawan said, the reason for refusing the PSBB application was because the technical team of the Ministry of Health and the Head of the Task Force for the Acceleration of Handling COVID-19 Doni Monardo decided that the spread of the corona virus in these 6 areas was not as bad as other regions that had received PSBB status.

"(The PSBB application) was rejected because it did not meet the epidemiological and other aspects," said Terawan in a statement received by VOI, Monday, April 20.

All provisions in applying for the PSBB are regulated in the Minister of Health Regulation (Permenkes) Number 9 of 2020 concerning PSBB Guidelines for the Acceleration of Handling Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

PSBB criteria are regulated in Article 2 Permenkes 9/2020. Areas that can be assigned the status of PSBB are areas where the number of cases and / or the number of deaths due to disease has increased and spread significantly and rapidly to several regions.

In addition, a region can be defined as a PSBB if there is an epidemiological link with similar incidents in other regions or countries.

To get PSBB status, the head of blood must submit a request letter accompanied by data on the COVID-19 case to the Minister of Health, Terawan. Then, the Minister of Health forwarded the request to the Chairperson of the Task Force for the Acceleration of Handling COVID-19 Doni Monardo to determine the status.

In the process of determining the PSBB, Article 7 PMK No.9 of 2020 explains that the minister forms a team to conduct epidemiological studies, political, economic, social, cultural, religious, defense and security aspects.

Then, Article 13 PMK 9/2020 regulates the implementation of PSBB. When an area has received the PSBB status, they carry out school and work vacations, restrictions on religious, socio-cultural activities, activities in public places or facilities, restrictions on transportation modes, and other activities specifically related to defense and security aspects.

School and workplace vacations are exempted for strategic offices or agencies that provide services related to defense and security, public order, food needs, fuel oil and gas, health services, economy, finance, communications, industry, export and import, distribution, logistics, and other basic necessities.

Restrictions on places or public facilities are exempted for supermarkets, minimarkets, markets, shops or places for the sale of medicines and medical equipment for food, staple goods, essential goods, fuel oil, gas and energy.

Restrictions on transportation modes are exempted for passenger transportation modes, both public and private, by taking into account the number of passengers and maintaining the distance between passengers, as well as modes of transportation of goods by taking into account the fulfillment of the basic needs of the population.

Some regions have officially implemented the PSBB since a few days ago. First, DKI Jakarta has officially enforced the PSBB status since last April 10. The Jakarta PSBB is valid for 2 weeks until April 23, but can be extended. Several regions in West Java, namely Bogor, Depok and Bekasi, officially enforced the PSBB from April 15 to April 28.

Furthermore, the city of Pekanbaru, Riau has implemented the PSBB since 17 April. Then, the Tangerang Raya area in Banten Province officially announced the PSBB from today until May 3.

Several other regions will also immediately apply the PSBB status. Makassar City, South Sulawesi will implement the PSBB from 24 April to 7 May. Then, the Greater Bandung area (Bandung, West Bandung, Cimahi, Sumedang) will apply from April 22 to May 6.

Furthermore, the City of Tegal, Central Java will also implement the PSBB because it has been approved by the Ministry of Health. However, the Governor of Central Java has not yet decided when the PSBB in Tegal will officially take effect. West Sumatra has also just received the blessing of the implementation of the PSBB. The determination date is being prepared by the local government.

Then, the City of Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan and the City of Tarakan, North Kalimantan have received approval from Terawan to immediately set the PSBB.

Based on the results of epidemiological studies, there are a number of reasons for these areas to determine the status of PSBB. For example, there is a rapid increase in cases from time to time, a wider spread throughout the area, and then there is local transmission from one person to another.

"These areas need to be strong in carrying out social restrictions, so there have been several areas that have been decided to be able to treat large-scale social restrictions," said government spokesman for the handling of COVID-19 Achmad Yurianto.