No Longer Announcing Daily Covid-19 Case Figures, The COVID-19 Task Force: There Is No Purpose To Cover Up Data

COVID-19 Task Force Spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito (Photo: BNPB Public Relations)

JAKARTA - Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force Wiku Adisasmito emphasized that not announcing the daily COVID-19 case figures does not mean that the government is covering up data on the development of the virus in Indonesia. He even invited the public to control the existing data if it did not match the facts on the ground.

"There is no intention of hiding data. We encourage public transparency and let the public take control if there are conditions that do not match the truth," Wiku said in a press conference broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat YouTube account, Friday, July 24.

He said, although the data was not conveyed directly through public broadcasts, the public could still access daily data through the website www.covid19.go.id/peta-sebaran.

On the site page, continued Wiku, the government will announce the data regularly every day at 16.00 WIB after the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) has finished verifying the data.

In addition, he said, efforts are being made to provide data on COVID-19 on the site so that it can be presented in real-time so that there is no difference between national data and regional data.

It's just that, the application of real-time data on COVID-19 cases in Indonesia still takes longer because the COVID-19 Task Force still has to create integrated data between each agency including the Ministry of Health.

"The process turned out to take a long time because during the first four months we were not able to integrate it into one because there were several obstacles in the data collection process and the data verification process at the Ministry of Health apparently took longer," he said.

Previously, the COVID-19 Task Force received the spotlight after they stopped announcing the daily number of COVID-19 cases. Even though in recent months, as a spokesman, Achmad Yurianto has always appeared on television screens and through the BNPB YouTube account to convey developments in the COVID-19 case in Indonesia.

At the beginning of its appearance, instead of conveying information about the development of the case, the Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito, actually explained the percentage of the cure for COVID-19 and the zoning of the COVID-19 spread area.

As for the daily figures, he asked the public to read them on the website www.covid19.go.id.

This was then responded to by a member of the DPR RI Commission IX Saleh Partaonan Daulay. "Why is such an announcement (delivering daily data, red) no longer being made," said Saleh when contacted by VOI, Wednesday, June 22.

According to him, submitting daily data by relying on internet sites may not necessarily reach the public. Because, not all people have smooth internet access like in big cities.

"But if it is announced on television they can find out and watch it themselves," he said.

He further said that announcements regarding the number of daily cases, both suspected and positive, recovered, and died should be announced every day. In fact, if necessary, a clear mapping of the area where the virus was spread should be explained so that the community becomes more alert.

Moreover, in various countries, announcements regarding the increase in the number of daily COVID-19 cases are often made. "So if they are open, why aren't we open? Yes, it's fine, what should be hidden from there," he said.