Getting Ready! Sultan HB X Consider DIY Total Lockdown

ILLUSTRATION/BETWEEN

YOGYAKARTA - The Governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X is considering implementing a total "lockdown" to suppress the high number of COVID-19 cases in his region.

"We've already talked about 'controlling' in RT/RW, if it fails, what else can we do. We can't necessarily find a way out, the only way is 'totally lock down'," said Sri Sultan at the Kepatihan Office, Yogyakarta, quoted by Antara, Friday, June 18th.

According to the Sultan, through the Micro PPKM policy which was again extended until June 28, 2021, the Yogyakarta Regional Government has even arranged in detail the technical tightening of community activities down to the RT/RW level.

Through this policy, the implementation of community activities not only requires approval from the kelurahan, but also must be accompanied by the approval of the sub-district.

"This PPKM has already talked about dealing with RT/RW, padukuhan, if that fails, the mobility is like this during the 'weekend', so what else do you want, yes, 'lockdown'," said the King of the Yogyakarta Palace.

Sri Sultan also admitted that he was surprised by the bed occupancy rate (BOR) of COVID-19 patients in Yogyakarta, which had increased so quickly in a week. From the usual 36 percent range, it has now reached 75 percent.

Regarding the discourse of implementing the "lockdown", the Sultan will soon hold a joint meeting inviting doctors and the district/city government in DIY.

"I've talked about quarantine issues in each district, yes I heard that later on Monday afternoon we will have a meeting with doctors and with districts/cities. They don't want to tighten the community up," he said.

He realized that the fluctuating fluctuating COVID-19 cases did not only occur in the country. Even some other countries such as Malaysia and Singapore have implemented a "lockdown" again.

"So maybe the graph is indeed fluctuating, there is no pick, it goes up and down. But regardless of conditions like that, you must have the ability to discipline yourself. If not, it will continue like this forever," said Sultan.

On Friday, June 18, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Yogyakarta increased by 592 cases, bringing the cumulative number to 51,338 cases. Meanwhile, recovered cases increased by 237 cases to 44,843 cases and 12 cases died, bringing the total number of deaths to 1,342 cases.