Bekasi Mayor Signals Reopening of Schools despite COVID-19 Red Zone Status

TEMPO.CO, Bekasi - Bekasi Mayor Rahmat Effendi mulled allowing face-to-face learning activities albeit the region is still classified as a red zone with high COVID-19 transmission.

“We examine that direct or face-to-face teaching and learning process has been now possible,” said Rahmat in Bekasi on Wednesday, November 11, 2020.

According to him, there was a small percentage of people exposed to coronavirus disease compared to the total population of 2.4 million. “The death rate is low, but the recovery rate is high. Those are the considerations,” Rahmat added.

Bekasi recorded 7,538 cumulative cases with 143 fatalities or a two percent death rate and 6,933 recoveries or a 93 percent recovery rate, he explained. Meanwhile, the other 460 patients are still being treated or in isolation.

The city’s mitigation efforts are also running well since the local administration held massive tests through close contacts or randomly. “We also have complete infrastructures, and we decide to no longer use hotels as isolation venues because the occupancy has been low,” said Rahmat.

The reopening of schools, he went on, was under consideration of the condition of students. “Online learning is unproductive,” said Rahmat, adding that the Bekasi administration would write to the Education and Culture Ministry to allow offline learning activities.

Read: Movie Theaters in Bekasi Reopened with Restricted Visiting Hours

ADI WARSONO