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West Java, Banten slash number of COVID-19 red zones
West Java now only has two red zones, while in Banten only South Tangerang is categorized as region with a high-risk COVID-19 transmission.
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Medical staff prepare to take swab samples during free polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing held by state-owned Bank Negara Indonesia in South Tangerang, Banten, on Aug. 30. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
West Java and Banten have reduced the number of regions categorized as COVID-19 high-risk red zones.
West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil posted on his Instagram account on Tuesday a picture of a risk map with a caption explaining that the province had two red zones: Bekasi regency and Cirebon city.
Four regions have now been categorized as low-risk yellow zones while the remaining 21 regions are categorized as medium-risk orange zones.
“Last month we still had seven red-zones,” the caption stated.
As a conclusion, the caption urged people to be disciplined in following the 3Ms while waiting for a vaccine.
The 3Ms refer to the health protocols of menggunakan masker (mask-wearing), mencuci tangan (handwashing) and menjaga jarak (social distancing).
The National COVID-19 task force has previously reminded the public that discipline in following the 3Ms was the way the public could contribute to breaking the chain of COVID-19 transmission.
Meanwhile, in Banten, South Tangerang is the only city categorized as a red zone after seven other regions were downgraded to orange zones.
Based on data from the Banten Health Agency, the regencies and cities listed as orange zones are Tangerang regency and Tangerang city, Lebak regency, Serang regency, Pandeglang regency, Serang city and Cilegon city.
Tangerang regency was the latest region to be downgraded from a red zone this month.
According to Tangerang COVID-19 task force spokesperson Hendra Tarmizi, the number of positive COVID-19 cases had begun to decrease this month.
“The number of inpatients treated at hospitals and the death rate have also declined,” Hendra said as quoted by kompas.com on Tuesday.
Furthermore, according to Hendra, authorities had also stepped up testing, tracing and treatment measures as the majority of COVID-19 cases in Tangerang regency were asymptomatic. Asymptomatic patients are quarantined at a hotel with 180 beds.
He explained that authorities were working to see Tangerang regency’s status downgraded to yellow by December.
“However, we must not let our guard down. We must prevent new clusters from emerging,” Hendra said.
As of Tuesday, West Java had recorded 31,250 positive COVID-19 cases and 600 fatalities, while Banten had registered 7,922 cases and 239 fatalities.
Nationwide, 368,842 cases had been recorded as of Tuesday with 12,734 fatalities.(iwa)
Editor’s note: This article is part of a public campaign by the COVID-19 task force to raise people’s awareness about the pandemic.
