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The simultaneous regional elections (Pilkada) should not become new sources of COVID-19 transmission, Spokesperson of the National COVID-19 Task Force Wiku Adisasmito has said.<\/p>\n
“In the current situation amid COVID-19 pandemic, the regional head elections cannot be carried out normally,” Wiku said in a press statement on the development of COVID-19 handling aired on the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) YouTube channel, Graha BNPB, Jakarta, Thursday (3\/12).<\/p>\n
Ahead of the regional elections during the pandemic, Wiku mentioned four important things:<\/p>\n
First<\/em>, voters must be aware of the important role of regional heads in curbing COVID-19 in their respective regions.<\/p>\n “Vote a leader who complies with health protocols during campaigns for the elections since it can reflect their future leadership role,” Wiku said.<\/p>\n This year’s elections, he added, will determine the direction of health resilience and regional recovery amid the pandemic.<\/p>\n “I hope the community can use their voting rights to vote a leader who is responsible and competent as well as committed to lead the region in the midst of pandemic,” he said.<\/p>\n Second<\/em>, Wiku asked the public to constantly comply with health protocols during the 2020 regional elections and prevent the elections to become new cluster of infection.<\/p>\n “The elections can be safely implemented if all parties uphold discipline in following health protocols and directions set by the General Elections Commission (KPU),” Wiku said.<\/p>\n Third<\/em>, he urged the election candidates to make good use of the remaining campaign period and encourage the importance of safe elections.<\/p>\n “Do adhere to health protocols during the campaigns. Be responsible and do not carry out campaign activities that attract large crowds,” he added.<\/p>\n Fourth<\/em>, he also asked the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) in regions to impose sanctions for candidates violating health protocols.<\/p>\n “Do coordinate with the COVID-19 Task Force in the regions to disperse campaign activities that cause crowds,” he said, adding that the KPU has taken preventive measures to stop further COVID-19 spread ahead of regional elections.<\/p>\n “The KPU has formulated health protocol regulations that must be obeyed by election organizers, namely conducting COVID-19 test before officers carry out their duties at polling stations (TPS) and ensure that officers are healthy and tested negative for COVID-19,” Wiku stated.<\/p>\n For the record, hand-sanitizers and a place to wash hands will be provided. The election voters must also wear masks, keep a safe distance, as well as attend the elections in certain sections to avoid crowds.<\/p>\n “Check voters’ body temperature before entering the polling station to make sure the voters are in a good health condition and perform simulations under the supervision of the Task Force,” he said.<\/p>\n Based on the data from ‘Our World in Data’ and research by ‘The Council on Foreign Relations’, Wiku said that the results showed that a few countries holding elections did not record a significant increase in COVID-19 active cases.<\/p>\n Those countries namely Croatia, the Dominican Republic, Malawi, North Macedonia, South Korea, and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean archipelago.<\/p>\n However, Wiku said that other countries such as Belarus, Poland, Serbia, and Singapore showed an increased number of COVID-19 after their elections. The rise in active cases caused by further post-election demonstrations in Belarus, violations of socio-economic activities in Singapore and Poland, as well as unreported cases in Serbia after the election, resulting in an increase after the process of updated-data recording and reporting.<\/p>\n “We must create safe and COVID-19 free regional elections. Let us work hand in hand in providing our best to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Indonesia,” he concluded. (KPCPEN Communication Team\/UN) (RIF\/LW)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The simultaneous regional elections (Pilkada) should not become new sources of COVID-19 transmission, Spokesperson of the National COVID-19 Task Force Wiku Adisasmito has said. “In the current situation amid COVID-19 pandemic, the regional head elections cannot be carried out normally,” Wiku said in a press statement on the development of COVID-19 handling aired on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":204024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-204023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-uncategorized-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n