BNPB's data indicated that in 2019, some 6.3 million international tourists had visited Bali. However, in 2020, that figure only reached one million.
At a seminar participated from here on Tuesday, Suharyanto highlighted that if Bali could recover, then the nation could drive the economic pace of tourism to facilitate the revival of the people's income.
Bali's recovery could also help Indonesia to maintain the trust that the world has placed to hold the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR).
The event is a multi-stakeholder forum to monitor the progress of various forms of knowledge and discuss the latest developments in disaster risk reduction in 2022.
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"We need to work hard in improving and strengthening preventive efforts by diligently maintaining the 5M (wearing masks, washing hands, maintaining social distance, reducing mobility, avoiding crowds) health protocols in our daily activities," he affirmed.
"We should also be capable of breaking the spread of infection by bolstering 3T (Testing, Tracing and Treatment)," he emphasized.
According to Suharyanto, in addition to implementing health protocols, all parties should collaborate to improve the pandemic situation in order to transition to the endemic stage.
One of the methods followed by BNPB to handle the COVID-19 pandemic was collaborating with several universities in Indonesia.
This collaboration is forged to review disaster problems in order to expedite their handling, specifically to better handle the COVID-19 pandemic in Bali.
This research by universities could support the government's measures to reduce the number of positive and death cases as well as usher in economic recovery in Bali.
Suharyanto also expects that the impact of the research conducted by universities could be felt directly by the people.
"I am optimistic that all researchers would share their knowledge and expertise in order to help address disaster problems, specifically COVID-19 in Bali and in Indonesia," he added.
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Translator: Hreeloita Shanti, Fadhli Ruhma
Editor: Suharto
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