TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said the recent statement of Deputy Health Minister Dante Saksono potentially hindered the city’s performance in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Dante previously said that the capital city was in the E category or one of the worst provinces in handling the pandemic.

“The assessment in such a scheme conveyed by the Deputy Health Minister poses a risk to disrupt the serious work of handling the pandemic,” said Anies in a written statement on Friday, May 28.

In a hearing with the House of Representatives (DPR) yesterday, Dante said several regions were in the D and E categories in the COVID-19 handling, and Jakarta received an E due to rising hospital bed occupancy rate (BOR) and poor case tracing.

Today, Health Minister Budi Gunadi offered an apology for the grade given to Jakarta. He said the categorization was a risk indicator based on the latest WHO guidelines, which was used as the ministry’s internal analysis to review the government’s preparations in containing the spike in COVID-19 cases after Eid holidays.

Budi said Jakarta is one of the best provinces for pandemic control given its high number of COVID-19 testing and vaccinations among the elderly.

Anies Baswedan also mentioned that the hospital bed occupancy rate in the capital city was around 30 percent. In fact, 20-30 percent of the hospitals treated non-Jakartans. He hoped the Health Ministry would review the method of calculating the risk indicators, adding that Jakarta would also be pleased to work together to design a more objective and contextual assessment.

Read: Anies Baswedan Extends Micro PPKM to Anticipate Eid Homecoming Cluster

LANI DIANA WIJAYA