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Tito calls for regions to muster locals in flattening COVID-19 curve
The home minister and former National Police chief has called on regional administrations to step up regulatory intervention and enforcement so their residents can contribute to the nation's COVID-19 response.
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Home Minister Tito Karnavian speaks on July 17, 2020 at a press conference in Palu, Central Sulawesi, on the government's preparations for the 2020 simultaneous regional elections. (Antara/Mohamad Hamzah)
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span new="" roman="" style="mso-fareast-font-family:" times="">Home Minister Tito Karnavian has called on regional leaders to issue regulations banning large crowds and to restrict the number of attendees at public rallies to drive local efforts to “flatten the curve” of COVID-19 transmission.
Aside from following the basic “3M” health protocols of mask wearing, handwashing and physical distancing, the public also needed to contribute to the nation’s COVID-19 response by avoiding large gatherings.
“To the regions, please, we are seeing that the COVID-19 [transmission] curve is continuing to rise. There are no signs of [flattening] yet,” he said while calling for more stringent regional regulations while speaking during the Innovative Government Award ceremony on Friday, as reported by Antara News.
Regional regulations were needed to enforce the 3M protocols as compulsory, he said, and that local administrations played a big role in encouraging residents to adhere to the protocols.
“It will need policy intervention. Physical distancing in public spaces should be managed [and must] also include enforcement,” said Tito, who is a former National Police chief.
“What is also important is to avoid any crowds. If there is one [large] gathering, the 3M efforts would be useless,” he added.
Local regulations were vital to flattening the curve of transmission, Tito continued, since there were many people who did not fully understand the importance of washing their hands and using hand sanitizers.
The central government recently announced a nationwide ban on crowd-pulling events from Dec. 18 to Jan. 8, including New Year's Eve celebrations, in a bid to prevent a post-holiday surge in infections. Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said on Monday that the decision to ban year-end holiday gatherings was taken in response to the significant increase in new COVID-19 cases following the five-day holiday weekend at the end of October.
In addition to banning crowd-pulling events and activities, Tito said that a cap should be imposed on the number of attendees at demonstrations and rallies. He said this would be a public health solution that did not curb civil liberties during the coronavirus crisis.
“In my opinion, it would be best to limit [protest attendees] to only 50 people, just like we limited the number of [voters at polling stations] during the recent regional elections,” he said.
Tito expressed concern that rallies could turn into “superspreader events” if the number of attendees were not restricted. The scheme would also help health authorities and health workers in tracing contacts if a protest attendee tested positive for COVID-19.
He suggested that “law enforcement authorities” – the National Police – issue a regulation on the permitted number of attendees to ensure that public rallies could still be held in compliance with the health protocols.
“Protests are allowed. We [guarantee the right of the people] to express their opinions in public. But in Article 9 of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, there are no stipulations [on restricting attendees], it says that there must be no intervention,” he said. (ami)
