COVID-19 Task Force Asks 6 Provinces In Java To Optimize Micro PPKM

COVID-19 Handling Task Force spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito (DOC BNPB)

JAKARTA - The COVID-19 Handling Task Force (Satgas) has asked local governments in six provinces in the Java Island region to optimize the implementation of micro-scale community activity restrictions (PPKM) following a very high spike in the number of patients in the last four weeks.

"According to the president's directives, regional leaders at the provincial and district/city levels, especially in Java, must get used to observing the current situation by reading data, so that anticipatory steps can be taken immediately," said the Coordinator of the Expert Team and Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force Prof. Wiku Adisasmito, in a press release quoted by Antara, Tuesday, June 22.

According to Wiku, the request cannot be separated from the development of the COVID-19 pandemic that occurred in the last four weeks, which showed six provinces on the island of Java as the highest contributor to the increase in cases in Indonesia. The six provinces are DKI Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java, the Special Region of Yogyakarta, and Banten.

Wiku asked relevant parties in the regions to use the data as the basis for policy-making in handling COVID-19, so that the resulting policies can be targeted and able to control the spike in cases.

Based on data from Sunday, June 20, six provinces on the island of Java contributed to the highest increase in cases, including DKI Jakarta, which increased 387 percent, with a total increase of 20,634 patients.

West Java increased 115 percent with a total increase of 8,382 patients, Central Java increased 105 percent with a total increase of 5,896 patients, East Java increased 174 percent with a total increase of 2,852 patients.

The Special Region of Yogyakarta increased by 197 percent with a total of 2,583 patients and Banten increased by 189 percent with a total of 967 patients.

Wiku said these developments made Indonesia nationally experienced a 92 percent increase in weekly cases since the last four weeks. "This is a very sharp increase, and it cannot be tolerated," said Wiku.

Wiku added that the current increase in cases was also followed by an increase in the number of beds in the isolation room of the COVID-19 referral hospital.

"In fact, hospital occupancy in five of these six provinces has reached more than 80 percent as of Monday (21/6). Only East Java is below 80 percent, which is 66.67 percent," he said.

Wiku said that this increase in positive cases should be a strong reason for local governments to evaluate control policies.

To be able to ensure effectiveness, especially the implementation of micro PPKM policies, said Wiku, all elements must carry out their duties and functions properly so as to create comprehensive handling.

"Currently, the percentage of post formations in various provinces in Indonesia still tends to be low and it is important to remember, the effectiveness of implementing micro PPKM is very dependent on the establishment of posts as a forum for coordinating the implementation of micro PPKM at the village level," said Wiku.

There are still many villages/regencies that do not yet have a post, he said, of course, this has the potential to cause obstacles to good coordination of handling COVID-19 up to the neighborhood (RT) level, thus having an impact on not achieving the goals of the micro PPKM itself.

Therefore, the task force asked the governors, especially from these six provinces, to immediately instruct regents and mayors in their regions to improve the performance of micro PPKM.

"Once the Command Post has been established, the next step is to ensure that all the tasks and functions of the Command Post are carried out properly by each related element. Remember that COVID-19 is a race against time and the guarantee is life, so that if all local governments can take anticipatory steps as early as possible, it can save many lives,” said Wiku.