Task Force Calls Papua PON COVID-19 Case Findings Not Many, Only 0.83 Percent Of All Participants

Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force Wiku Adisasmito (IST)

JAKARTA - Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito, said that there were not many COVID-19 cases during the XX PON in Papua.

Wiku said, the findings of 83 COVID-19 cases recorded as of October 11, 2021, were only 0.83 percent of all PCR examinations of participants who participated in the implementation of PON.

"Only 83 positive confirmed cases of COVID-19 were found as of October 11 from nearly 10,000 participants who took part in the XX PON event, or around 0.83 percent," said Wiku in a virtual press conference, Tuesday, October 12.

Even at the same time, Indonesia is currently able to maintain its performance in controlling COVID-19, which has been proven to be the country with the highest recovery index score in Southeast Asia, even in an atmosphere of gradual opening of the socio-economic sector.

"This assessment is viewed from the management aspects of case control, vaccination, and the mobility of a country," said Wiku.

In principle, said Wiku, as a large event with a variety of series of events with the involvement of participants from various remote areas, PON Papua cannot be separated from the risk of the emergence of a spike in cases.

This is due to increased mobility between regions within one island or between islands, the potential for crowds to arise, as well as limited facilities and infrastructure to support the implementation of health protocols due to the large number of participants attending.

Then, the various patterns of interaction between Papuan PON participants were also one of the causes of the emergence of cases due to differences in regional origin and the series of events that were followed.

"Therefore, the achievements and various minor shortcomings during the series of events need to be learned, especially for organizing the nearest major event, namely Superbike Mandalika and other events," he concluded.