Ministry of Home Affairs: Mapping of Covid-19 Spread Does Not Reflect the Actual Conditions

Jakarta, InfoPublik - The Director-General of Politics and General Government of the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri), Bahtiar, emphasized that the current mapping of the Covid-19 spread does not reflect the actual conditions.

The government uses the indicating colors (red, yellow, and green) to reflect the number of cases found, but the Covid-19 test number carried out in every region was uneven.

"Many red and green regions do not reflect the actual situations. Some region is green in number because there might be no test in the region," said Bahtiar in his statement, Tuesday (8/25).

He also said many regions in Indonesia did not meet the minimum standards for the Covid-19 test set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Also, not all regions have the ability to trace Covid-19 cases.

Therefore, the Ministry of Home Affairs will not use the Covid-19 spread map as a reference for organizing the upcoming regional elections but prefer to see the mortality rate in each region.

"Our reference is not the indicating colors, but the mortality rate. So we can be more certain in measuring the number of cases because each region has different capabilities to do case tracing. The speed of spreading is also different," he said.

"Until today, the Ministry of Home Affairs does not intend to postpone the regional elections. We will continue to carry it out in any condition in the region," he explained.

Bahtiar ensures the government will not postpone the 2020 Pilkada again, even though there are areas with a high spread of Covid-19.

(Photo: Ministry of Home Affairs)

Reporter: Eko Budiono
Editor: Isma
Translator: Wilda Stiana