In the Nusa Dua area on Saturday, Head of Behavioral Change at the COVID-19 Handling Task Force Sonny Harry B. Harmadi assured that the bubble system implemented for the IBF this year is different from the one used in the National Sports Week (PON) recently held in Papua Province.
"It is a stricter, full bubble system, unlike the PON Papua, which was a semi-bubble. In Papua, athletes and participants could still leave the hotel, but that is not allowed here," Harmadi informed.
According to him, this is the first time a full bubble system is being implemented in Indonesia. In the future, other protocols will refer to it, he affirmed.
The bubble system implementation for IBF 2021 has gone through a detailed review process so the level of security is higher, he assured. This has been done because IBF will be attended by athletes from abroad, while PON only hosted domestic athletes, he said.
Related news: Bubble system applied during Papua's PON National Games: minister
The resort where the participants are staying and the Bali International Convention Center, which has been selected as the competition arena, have become sterile areas that cannot be accessed by unauthorized parties, he informed.
"No one can go in and out of the bubble; all athletes have also been told which areas can or cannot be entered," he pointed out.
As many as 930 personnel from Bali police, Udayana Regional Military Command, National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), and several hotel security staff have been deployed to enforce the health protocols, he said.
Furthermore, the complete bubble system also requires all foreign IBF participants to be registered on the PeduliLindungi application to allow their supervision, Harmadi explained.
"We support the IBF, but with as much mitigation efforts as possible. It must be done carefully, because the pandemic is still ongoing, and of course, we do not want to let a new variant (emerge) in Indonesia," he added.
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Translator: Roy B, Kenzu T
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
