Task Force: Formation of Covid-19 Posts Hampered by Slow Budget Disbursement

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The National Covid-19 Handling Task Force said the formation of the Covid Command Post in regencies or cities was hampered by budget distribution. In fact, the posts are necessary during the current condition of rising cases to monitor and control the people.

“Based on the report of the regional Task Force, the distribution of the budget to establish command posts and their operations is hampered,” said the National Task Force spokesman Wiku Adisasmito on Thursday, June 17.

The posts are established in all villages and sub-districts across the country as part of the preventive efforts to contain the pandemic from upstream. “The central government [should] keep pushing for budget distribution to regional governments, and the regional governments to the administrative areas. The central government [should] also encourage comprehensive monitoring in the neighborhood unit (RT) level,” Wiku said.

The national task force found that the formation of command posts in 11 out of 15 regencies or cities with a high daily hike in virus transmission was still below 50 percent, while the rest 4 at above 60 percent.

The 11 regencies or cities include West Jakarta with a 167-percent hike in Covid-19 positive cases and the hospital bed occupancy rate (BOR) at 77 percent, Depok City with a 111-percent hike in cases and the hospital occupancy at 66.16 percent, and Bekasi with a 192-percent hike in cases and the hospital BOR at 73.85 percent.

Read: Jakarta Sees Covid-19 Patient Overflow with 84% Isolation Beds Occupied

ANTARA