Politician Attributes Covid-19 Case Growth to Govt' Policies

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - National Awakening Party (PKB) politician Luqman Hakim said that the rising number of Covid-19 cases across Indonesian regions can be attributed to a number of government policies, which permitted tourism sites to remain open during the Eid al-Fitr celebrations. 

"It is reasonable to say that the government is one of many factors that worsened the spread of Covid-19," said Luqman on Tuesday, June 15, 2021. 

The House of Representatives (DPR) home affairs commission deputy added that the government should have been able to convince the public to better implement health protocols that the government imposed since the beginning of the pandemic. 

Lukman believed that many people in a wide range of regions are struck by the 'pandemic fatigue' which he suspects drove regional administrations to put their guard down in terms of health protocols. 

The PKB politician also urged the government to accelerate the mass-vaccination program and appoint President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo as the leader of the program as he argues any factors hampering the vaccination program can be effectively solved with the President's influence. 

As reported earlier, the Covid-19 task force recorded a rise in cases across 15 regencies and cities for the past week. The largest number of new cases is recorded in Grobogan in Central Java, which recorded a 2,803 percent case increase. A similar situation is also happening in the Capital City of Jakarta as the coronavirus Wisma Atlet emergency hospital is once again filled by new patients. 

HUSSEIN ABRI