inister of Youth and Sports Said Health Protocol Implementation When Papua PON Is Under Control

Menpora Zainudin Amali (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Youth and Sports, Zainudin Amali, stated that the implementation of health protocols during the 2021 PON XX Papua was quite a under control, although several athletes and officials were exposed to COVID-19.

"In my opinion, it can be seen that people's concerns can become a big cluster because it is estimated that around 20,000 people present can be many, but it seems that many have recovered", said the Minister of Youth and Sports in an online discussion entitled "Evaluation of PON Papua" at the Media Center Jakarta, Thursday, reported by Antara.

The Minister of Youth and Sports continued, the recovery of athletes and PON XX Papua officials who were previously exposed to COVID-19 was fairly fast, especially supported by their physical fitness.

“So you can imagine from so many people, cases like that, and experiences in several multi-events during the Olympics, athletes have recovered for at least three to five days. Their fitness is better than non-athletes", said Amali.

The athletes, he continued, generally experience asymptomatic conditions and have a high Cycle Threshold (CT) Value so they are not worried about infecting others.

Furthermore, he said, as of Wednesday, October 13 at 14.00 WIT, there were still three people who were still exposed to COVID-19, 39 were recovering, and 25 people were declared cured.

"There is no low CT and it is feared that it will transmit", said Amali.

Amali estimates that the number of positive cases of COVID-19 in the XX Papua PON cluster will decrease because many people have returned to their respective regions considering that the sports that are still being competed have drastically reduced.

"The peaks (of COVID-19 cases) were on October 11, 12 and after that, there were not many people because many people had returned approximately 65 to 70 percent", he said.

On the other hand, the day before the closing, he stated that the implementation of the Papua PON was a success in terms of implementation and achievements. This success also dismissed the doubts of various parties who suggested that PON Papua be moved or even stopped.

According to him, stating that PON Papua is successful in terms of achievement is not an exaggeration, especially since many athletes have emerged, even though they are still 17 to 19 years old.

“This is our hope in the future that we can get talent. In the past, people doubted whether Papua could do it, but with this PON tagline, 'you can', it can be proven, people's doubts about doubts about the ability of human resources are refuted", he added.