Jakarta (ANTARA) - The authorities have faced many challenges in encouraging the Papuan people to comply with the health protocols during the Papua National Sports Week (PON) XX, an official has said.

During the 'Torang Bisa! Obey Health Protocol, 2021 Papua PON XX Successfully Held' webinar, observed from here on Thursday, Lilis Adi Sulistiyanto from Merauke district's Public Order Agency and Firefighter Service highlighted one of the challenges stemming from varying levels of understanding among the Papuan people on health protocols or COVID-19.

According to Sulistiyanto, this is natural since COVID-19 clusters were concentrated in the city. Meanwhile, villages around the city were categorized as green so there were still people who doubted the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 virus in their region, he explained.

The next challenge to implementing the health protocols has involved the arrival of outsiders confirmed COVID-19 positive, he said.

As a result, he said, his agency has increased dissemination regarding the importance of wearing masks and started distributing masks to visitors at PON XX venues.

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Through the distribution of masks, people have slowly started to understand and wear them when they enter the arena, Sulistiyanto said. However, high levels of enthusiasm in the younger audience has led them to enter PON venues without maintaining distance, he pointed out.

This has especially been bolstered by the fact that people were feeling cramped by the lockdown prior to Papua PON XX, he said.

A volunteer from Jayapura district's Papua PON XX COVID-19 Task Force, Yolanda, said that her group has been using cars to distribute masks and focusing on local citizens since there are scores of visitors coming to PON locations.

While distributing masks, she said she realized that locals have been hesitant to wear masks as this is a new phenomenon for them.

The elderly are especially unwilling to wear masks and get mad if they were reprimanded by volunteers, Yolanda said. A similar phenomenon has been seen in a number of villages, she added.

Yolanda said that her group has enlisted the help of village heads and indigenous group chiefs to promote the practice of wearing masks.

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Translator: Hreeloita Shanti, Fadhli Ruhma
Editor: Suharto
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