The officials are undergoing isolation and their cases are being monitored by the COVID-19 task force, Prima Aequina Sulistyanti, chairman of the Ngawi KPU (General Elections Office), said here on Friday.
The Ngawi KPU had conducted COVID-19 rapid tests on 17,636 officers, following which 67 were declared reactive and sent for swab tests.
In the swab tests, 11 officials have been confirmed positive for COVID-19, while the rest are still waiting for the results, Sulistyanti said.
Those infected with COVID-19 will not be able to report for duty on the pilkada polling day, scheduled for December 9 this year, he added.
Despite the findings of the confirmed cases, the elections for Ngawi district head and deputy district head will proceed as scheduled, he said.
Indonesia is gearing up to hold simultaneous regional head elections on December 9 in 270 regions comprising 9 provinces, 37 cities, and 224 districts.
On November 11, 2020, Kumparan online media had quoted Saydiman Marto, who is serving on the home affairs minister’s staff, as saying that four candidates have succumbed to COVID-19 and other ailments, 24 have contracted COVID-19, while 20 others have recovered from the coronavirus disease.
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Translator: Louis Rika S, Fardah
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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