Yogyakarta Sultan HB X: Homecomers Under Quarantine for 14 Days

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X or Sultan HB X instructed all his staffers to monitor people coming to the city during the coronavirus outbreak and demanded those homecomers to undergo self-quarantine.

"At least for 14 days," said Sri Sultan in a press statement on Thursday, March 26, 2020.

Sri Sultan explained that during the 14-day isolation, medical officers would check the health of the people whether they are infected by the virus or not in their respective houses.

He also ordered regional heads to mobilize hamlet chiefs, subdistrict chiefs, up to Village Supervisor Officers (Babinsa) in each region to register those homecomers.

The governor issued the instruction following the increasing number of people returning to the city since their regions are affected by the virus. "They cannot run their business or trading, they cannot go to work, or even get laid off and then decide to go back home to Yogya," said Sri Sultan.

According to Sri Sultan, they also used the chance to have the 2020 Eid homecoming earlier. "Today, there are some 1,000 homecomers whom we must monitor. For the past two days, the surge in homecomers’ arrival is high, and the majority of them come from the red zone," he added. 

He said the homecomers are Yogyakarta residents so the local administration could not forbid them from returning home.

Sri Sultan HB X hoped they were fully aware to conduct a self-quarantine as a precautionary measure so that if they are tested positive for the virus disease or COVID-19, they will not infect others.

"We will help [who are suspected of being infected by the coronavirus] to go to the hospital."

PRIBADI WICAKSONO (CONTRIBUTOR)