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COVID-19: East Java Police form 'Covid Hunter' team to track down quarantine evaders
East Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Luki Hermawan said the team was formed in response to reports of COVID-19 patients escaping from hospitals and refusing to undergo quarantine.
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A health worker from the Malang Health Agency takes a blood sample of a resident during COVID-19 rapid testing at Lawang Market in Malang, East Java. (JP/Aman Rochman)
The East Java Police have formed a special "Covid Hunter" team tasked with tracking down confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases who have broken quarantine.
East Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Luki Hermawan said the team was formed in response to reports of COVID-19 patients escaping from hospitals and refusing to undergo quarantine.
"The team will coordinate with referral hospitals across the province to obtain the names and identities of patients. If any of them run away we will find and send them back to the hospitals," Luki told reporters on Tuesday.
The "Covid Hunter" team will also keep an eye on patients under treatment (PDP) and people under monitoring (ODP) who were not receiving treatment at a hospital and were required to undergo a 14-day self-quarantine, he said.
Tens of thousands of people from Greater Jakarta – the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in Indonesia – have returned to their hometowns across East Java in recent weeks prior to the government's Idul Fitri mudik (exodus) ban.
COVID-19 task forces at the city and regency levels have required those who arrived home from areas hard-hit by the virus – particularly Jakarta – to undergo a 14-day quarantine in facilities provided by village administrations. Those who do not show symptoms are regarded as ODPs.
According to the East Java task force, however, fewer than 3,000 people have undergone quarantine in what it calls “village observation rooms”.
East Java police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Trunoyudho Wisnu Andiko downplayed concerns that the "Covid Hunter" team would pave the way for police to intrude into people's private lives, saying the team comprised just 15 officers.
"We don't need to run a special operation for this, and the team will work with the provincial health agency to carry out the task," he said.
Trunoyudho said the team was formed to serve the public interest and would work according to the Health Quarantine Law.
East Java is the third hardest hit province in the country with 872 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 95 fatalities according to the official government count as of Wednesday. The provincial administration has also recorded 2,849 PDPs, 246 of whom have died.
Surabaya has been hardest hit city with 392 cases and 54 fatalities.
The East Java capital and its satellite regencies of Sidoarjo and Gresik imposed on Tuesday a 14-day period of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) to contain the spread of the virus.
