TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Central Java’s Mayor of Semarang Hendrar Prihadi on Tuesday said that the COVID-19 cases happening in his region had surged after the Eid celebration, which comes after the fact that there was a drop in cases one week prior to Eid.

He revealed the fact in an online seminar entitled ‘Pancasila and social justice.’

“There was a problem as we were nearing the Eid celebration. People forgot about the corona and were busy talking about the Eid preparation even though homecoming ‘mudik’ was still banned,” said Semarang Mayor Hendrar Prihadi.

This eventually resulted in the Semarang administration imposing social restrictions from May 35 to June 7th which is the second time Semarang imposed a similar social restriction on April 27 up to May 24. Hendi assures that massive COVID-19 tests will continue to be done along with contact tracing.

“Today, Semarang City peaked as it recorded 211 cases,” said Hendrar Prihadi. Fortunately, there were also 298 cases of recoveries and followed by 57 deaths.

He maintains that limiting people’s movement in Semarang is difficult as the city is now facing loosened health protocols and has enabled its people to continue with business activities under strict COVID-19 health protocols.

Factories are permitted to operate under reduced staff numbers and street vendors and restaurant operational hours are limited to 8PM.

BUDIARTI UTAMI PUTRI