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Anies issues decree on increasing Jakarta's COVID-19 alertness level
In the decree, issued on Tuesday, Anies urged all city officials – including mayors, agency heads and district and subdistrict heads – to step up efforts to educate the public about the deadly virus.
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Precaution: People wearing masks walk along Jl. MH Thamrin, Central Jakarta, on Thursday. Although Indonesia has not reported any cases of coronavirus infection, people have rushed to stores to buy masks to protect themselves. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
J
akarta Governor Anies Baswedan has issued a gubernatorial decree on increasing the capital’s alertness in response to the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
In the decree, issued on Tuesday, Anies urged all city officials – including mayors, agency heads and district and subdistrict heads – to step up efforts to educate the public about the deadly virus.
“We are supporting and organizing events to educate the public about how to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 infection in Jakarta,” Anies said in the decree.
In addition, Anies said the city administration would form a special COVID-19 command center for preventing, monitoring and addressing a potential outbreak.
However, he said Jakarta residents should not be unduly alarmed.
“Go about your day as usual and don’t spread news that has not been confirmed as true,” he said on Sunday as quoted by Antara news agency.
The decree comes amid the viral circulation of a photograph that reportedly shows a Jakarta Health Agency report on a possible outbreak in the city.
The post, which has since been mostly removed from social media, shows a presentation slide depicting a pie chart with the caption “COVID-19 cases based on case criteria,” with 32 cases marked as being under “supervision” and 115 cases as being “monitored.”
The agency issued a statement to clarify the image on Friday, stating that the term “COVID-19 cases” on the slide only meant patients who had exhibited symptoms of the disease and had recently traveled to affected countries.
“The Jakarta Health Agency hereby states that all lab test results have shown that there are no COVID-19 patients in Jakarta,” the agency’s disease control and prevention division head, Dwi Oktavia, said in the statement.
She acknowledged, however, that 115 people were being “monitored’ and that 32 people were “under supervision”, but did not detail whether these people had been tested for the disease or not.
Dwi Oktavia did not immediately respond to The Jakarta Post’s requests for comment. (rfa)
