Most patients in Magelang’s hospitals are people from outside the cityMagelang, Central Java (ANTARA) - The Magelang city government, Central Java, has worked incessantly to handle COVID-19 cases due to which their community activities restriction (PPKM) level was downgraded from level 4.
"Apart from vaccination that is being conducted (massively and) intensely, the Magelang city government also aims for the COVID-19 death rate to reach zero percent. (Those are) among the efforts to lower the number of cases amid the pandemic," Magelang Mayor Muchamad Nur Aziz stated in Magelang on Thursday, August 12.
Central Java Governor's Instruction No. 8 of 2021 stipulates that Magelang City and other 16 districts and cities were currently still at level 4 PPKM.
"We try our best continuously. However, I expect the public and all stakeholders to not become lax by the reduction in the number of daily cases. The public must continuously adhere to the health protocols and the level 4 community activities restriction policy," he emphasized.
Aziz also highlighted positive developments regarding the current pandemic situation in Magelang. The bed occupancy rate in Magelang-referred hospitals had gone below 70 percent. Furthermore, over 4,535 patients had made a recovery.
However, the level 4 PPKM policy is still enforced in Magelang due to the high death tally.
"Malang has 128 thousand residents. Let us say five people died in a week, then (we got) level 4 (policy) right away," he explained.
According to the World Health Organization’s recommendation, a COVID-19 situation in a district or city can be categorized into 4 levels.
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Level 4 is described as a situation in which there are over 150 COVID-19 cases for every 100 thousand people, over 30 hospitalized patients for every 100 thousand people, and more than five deaths for every 100 thousand people.
Level 3 is described as a situation in which there are 50-150 COVID-19 cases for every 100 thousand people, 10 to 30 hospitalized patients for every 100 thousand people, and two to five deaths for every 100 thousand people in the area.
The mayor admitted to having made several efforts in stemming the transmission of COVID-19, including through blockades at the RT/RW levels and Magelang highways, which he deemed effective in limiting public mobility.
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"Most patients in Magelang’s hospitals are people from outside the city. Our position is (geographically) in the middle (of many roadways), so (COVID-19) prevention is deemed necessary. One of the measures is through the use of blockades," he expounded.
He expected all stakeholders to push education and awareness among members of the public, so they would become aware of the symptoms of COVID-19. Hence, anyone who contracted the disease could immediately go to a centralized isolation site.
He opined that the centralized isolation site offered more effective and efficient recovery than self-isolation.
"This is because health and nutrition are monitored. There is extra food too, (ample) air circulation, and other factors, which makes the recovery faster than isolation at home," the mayor remarked.
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Translator: Heru Suyitno, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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