TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Central Jakarta Health Office Head Erizon Safari said his side could not abruptly run mass COVID-19 tests on residents who gathered during Rizieq Shihab’s jam-packed events in the Petamburan area. He argued that it would be unfair to prioritize investigating cases in the Petamburan sub-district following the large crowds.

“If we abruptly conduct contact tracing on all Petamburan residents, how about in Benhil (Bendungan Hilir), which statistically records much higher cases than Petamburan. That's not fair,” said Erizon on Monday, November 23, 2020.

Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Shihab held the marriage reception for his daughter and the commemoration event of Prophet Muhammad’s birthday at his residence in Petamburan, Central Jakarta on Saturday, November 14, 2020, which attracted a large crowd.

Erizon explained the contact tracing could be carried out if there was a positive case. People who joined the crowd and developing coronavirus symptoms could visit the nearest community health center or Puskesmas.

However, he claimed there was no resident coming for a medical checkup to date. Besides, the regional government had no data about people attending crowded events and was not sure if all of them were Petamburan residents.

Thus, Erizon called on all residents having COVID-19 symptoms after joining the crowds to contact the nearest health center.

Read: Jakarta Should Anticipate COVID-19 Surge After Big Event in Petamburan: Official

LANI DIANA WIJAYA