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Displaced people in disaster-hit areas unprotected from pandemic
Public compliance with the existing COVID-19 protocols is said to remain an integral part of evacuation and mitigation efforts following a string of fatal disasters that struck several regions across the archipelago over the last two weeks.
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Rescuers search for survivors in a collapsed building in Mamuju city on Jan. 15, 2021, after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake rocked Indonesia's Sulawesi island. (Agence France Presse/Mawardi)
T
he National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) is pushing for COVID-19 safety compliance during disaster response and among people taking shelter following a string of fatal disasters that struck several regions across the archipelago over the last two weeks.
Agency spokesperson Raditya said health protocols would continue to be enforced amid the ongoing emergency in the wake of earthquakes in West Sulawesi, major flooding in South Kalimantan and deadly landslides in West Java.
“All health protocols must be implemented,” he told an online press conference on Sunday.
Raditya went on to say that a joint team comprising his office, the Health Ministry and local health agencies had committed to providing the provisions and amenities required to maintain health and safety among evacuees.
Evacuees, divided into separate age groups to prevent viral contagion, had been ordered to keep wearing masks in shelters, he said. Swab antigen tests would also soon be provided to all evacuees to ensure proper handling of potential COVID-19 patients, he added.
“Shelters will be concentrated in two locations [in each disaster-hit region],” Raditya said. “Access to the shelters will be limited.”
The country has been tackling the aftermaths of at least three major natural disasters in recent weeks.
