The athletes will stay at the hotel for five days to prevent the emergence of new clusters of COVID-19, Jakarta Deputy Governor Ahmad Riza Patria noted in a statement that ANTARA quoted here, Wednesday.
Preparing the Grand Cempaka Hotel as a place for isolating Jakarta's returning athletes was a follow-up to the central government's directives for regional administrations across Indonesia, he stated.
To prevent the emergence of new coronavirus clusters among the capital city's athletes participating in the Papua games, Patria noted that they had regularly undergone medical check-ups and swab tests.
Referring to the latest data, five athletes from Jakarta had contracted COVID-19.
Four of them had fully recovered and returned home, while the other was awaiting the swab test result, Patria noted.
Prior to the departure of Jakarta's contingent to this 20th PON, the Indonesian Sports Council (KONI)-Jakarta office had set a target of winning 171 gold medals in the Papua games.
As of Wednesday, at 6:00 a.m. Western Indonesia Standard Time (WIB), Jakarta had pocketed 90 gold medals, 74 silver medals, and 85 bronze medals. It ranked third in the medals tally behind West Java and East Java.
The Papua PON is being held in Jayapura City and the districts of Jayapura, Mimika, and Merauke on October 2-15, 2021.
At least 6,400 athletes and 3,500 officials from 34 provinces across Indonesia are reportedly participating in Papua's PON National Games featuring 37 sports branches.
Since the convening of this country's biggest multisport event, the government had reported 83 COVID-19 cases.
According to Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, the 83 cases were concentrated among those competing in several sports, including judo, archery, roller skating, cricket, and motocross.
Despite several athletes contracting COVID-19, no competitions were cancelled at the ongoing national games in Papua, Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali recently affirmed.
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Translator: Ricky P, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
