A total of 243 people were detained during the rally in Medan. In the first round of rapid tests, we found 21 people to be reactive
Medan, N Sumatra (ANTARA) - Some 21 of the 243 demonstrators arrested during a rally against the job creation law in Medan, North Sumatra’s capital, Thursday (Oct 8), were found reactive in rapid tests to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), police stated.

"A total of 243 people were detained during the rally in Medan. In the first round of rapid tests, we found 21 people to be reactive," Chief of the North Sumatra Provincial Police Inspector General Martuani Sormin stated here on Friday.

The demonstrators found reactive in rapid COVID-19 tests were handed to the Medan City Task Force for COVID-19 Response for self-isolation, he revealed.

"We have discussed the matter with the Medan City Task Force to immediately isolate them since we do not want the 21 individuals to add to the count of those exposed to coronavirus," he emphasized.

Sormin remarked that three demonstrators were named suspects for allegedly carrying a sword and setting ablaze a car of the Bhayangkara Police Hospital’s deputy chief in Medan.

The police are yet conducting an investigation into the likelihood of other demonstrators being involved in the anarchic act.

"In total, 263 people have been arrested in North Sumatra, including nine in Labuan Batu, one in South Tapanuli, and 243 in Medan," he stated.

A rally against the passage of the job creation bill into law in the yard of the North Sumatra Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD) Building took a violent turn on Thursday, with some of the demonstrators vandalizing and setting aflame public facilities.

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Translator: Nur Apriliana BS/Suharto
Editor: Sri Haryati
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