Muhadjir Effendy: Actually We Are In A State Of Military Emergency Facing The COVID-19 Pandemic Pandemi

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy, said Indonesia was already in a military emergency facing the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Actually, even though the current government has not declared it, we are currently in a state of military emergency. So if the emergency measures are civil order, civil emergency, military emergency, war emergency. Now it's actually a military emergency", said Muhadjir Effendy was met while visiting the UGM University Club Hotel, which is used as a shelter for COVID-19 patients in Yogyakarta, Friday.

He said that Indonesia was in a military emergency because at this time it had to face an enemy, namely the invisible COVID-19.

"This invisible enemy in his battle does not use the rules of the law of war because everyone is considered a combatant by COVID-19", said Muhadjir.

According to him, in the past, pregnant women and children in the country had not been exposed to COVID-19 much, but now many of them have become victims. "There are many who died. This means that this is an asymmetrical war against COVID-19", he said.

For that reason, according to Muhadjir, President Joko Widodo has deployed the TNI and Police to take part in dealing with COVID-19 because they can no longer be dealt with normal handling.

"This is a military emergency, only the enemy is not a conventional military but the 'troops' are invisible", he said.

Muhadjir said whatever terms are used in dealing with COVID-19, whether Emergency Restrictions on Community Activities (PPKM) even super emergency, as long as people don't want to compromise and refrain from violating the prokes, the handling of COVID-19 will not succeed.

"If you don't realize that health care is the main thing, handling COVID-19 won't work", he said.