Epidemiologist Slams at 'Vague' PPKM Covid-19 Restriction
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9 February 2021 18:17 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - An epidemiologist with the University of Indonesia Syahrizal Syarif on Monday retorted the government’s latest mobility and social restriction dubbed the PPKM, which he deemed as vague.
"The government’s vague policy shouldn’t be adhered to by the Jakarta administration," he said on Monday, February 8.
He strongly argued that such a policy, which restricts the mobility of people in an attempt to stop the spread of Covid-19, should have been implemented early in 2020 as the pandemic just hit Indonesia. Syarif believes that implementing the PPKM right now as the number of cases has surged will not have significant effects.
The epidemiologist said that “It’s better for the government to control crowds and improve its tracing if they want to suppress the viral spread.” He also mentioned the policy allowing restrictive wedding receptions as an example of a policy that increases the risk of spreading Covid-19.
Syarif asserted that the best thing the government must do is to strengthen its testing, tracing, and isolation capabilities. The lack of good coordination between the central government and regional administrations was also his main criticism despite the fact that the pandemic has lasted for nearly a year.
“Coordinations are still not running well until now,” said the epidemiologist. “What could you expect?”
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IMAM HAMDI