Press Council: Reporters Face High Risk of Covid-19 Transmission

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Press Council conducted yet another free Polymerase Chain Reaction or PCR swab test program for 100 media workers. The activity was carried out in collaboration with the Federal International Finance (FIF) Group and Djarum Foundation.

The Press Council’s chairman of inter-institutional and international relations, Agus Sudibyo, said journalists faced increasing demands in line with the rising need of the public for accurate and useful information in the time of the pandemic.

“So being reporters, especially those covering issues in the field, is one of the jobs that are at the highest risk of being exposed to Covid-19,” said Agus in a written statement on Wednesday, November 18, 2020.

The free PCR test program was held in Pertamina Central Hospital (RSPP) led by the hospital’s medical teams.

The RSPP director dr. Syamsul Bahri appreciated the program initiated by the Press Council. According to him, the test was one of the efforts to break the chain of Covid-19 spread among media workers.

“Efforts to prevent virus transmission through medical screening on people who have a high risk of contracting Covid-19 such as media workers are necessary,” Syamsul said, adding that his hospital set up an isolation venue for asymptomatic carriers in Simprug, South Jakarta.

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M YUSUF MANURUNG