After leading a coordination meeting with the regents/mayor in Bali in Denpasar (13/4), Bali Governor Wayan Koster gave a press statement responding to questions about the Large Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) as the positive case of Covid-19 in Bali continues to grow.
Koster said that Bali will not propose PSBB to the central government. Even though COVID-19’s positive case has increased, it is dominated by imported cases, in this case, Indonesian (Bali) Migrant Workers who have just returned from abroad.
“The PSBB must follow such conditions. First, many events occur in the region. Secondly, the level of spread is already high which raises huge risks such as fatalities and so on,” said Koster. It’s not the time yet for Bali to submit a PSBB because of positive cases, the local transmission rate is relatively small. Therefore, to enact PSBB in Bali is still far away. “I’m sure it’s still far away. We should not carry it into a scary situation” he said.
Unlike Jakarta, Koster said that in the capital city PSBB was applied because most of the positive cases were local transmissions. The number has already touched more than 2,000 cases and is related to other areas in the vicinity, such as Bogor, Bekasi, Banten, West Java, Central Java, and other areas where COVID-19 positive cases are also high. “Geographically, Bali is much easier to control (Covid-19)” he said.
Until now, several regions in Indonesia that have already implemented PSBB such as are DKI, Bekasi, Depok, Bogor, and Tangerang Raya. To determine the PSBB, each region
must meet certain criteria such as the number of cases and or the number of deaths due to disease increased and spread significantly and quickly and there are epidemiological links with similar events in other regions or countries.
The implementation of PSBB includes several things, such as the dismission of schools and workplaces, restrictions on religious activities, and restrictions on activities in public facilities. However, restrictions are excluded for such particular services i.e. essential needs (food), health service and financial services. Restrictions are also excluded for markets, shops, supermarkets, and health facilities.
Video in Bahasa Indonesia from Pemprov Bali
Feature photo from Humas Pemprov Bali.