People, who feel that they have COVID-19 symptoms or if their antigen or PCR test show positive results, can contact the call center or social media at the village level
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Presidential Staff Office (KSP) lauded village medicine innovations, including the one currently applied at Bambanglipuro Village, Bantul District, Yogyakarta, that had been proven effective in handling COVID-19.

"People, who feel that they have COVID-19 symptoms or if their antigen or PCR test show positive results, can contact the call center or social media at the village level," KSP's Expert Staff, Abraham Wirotomo, noted.

In a statement on Monday, Wirotomo remarked that public health centers' (puskesmas') workers will assist people, who will undergo the antigen or PCR test for free.

Moreover, they will be given medicine based on their complaints.

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"Medicines will also be delivered free of charge and can arrive in a matter of hours," Wirotomo noted.

Telemedicine in Bambanglipuro Village is not as advanced as telemedicine on digital platforms, he remarked.

However, the efforts to get people involved with health workers and the regional governments' task force had been proven to be effective in preventing local transmission of the Omicron variant.

This step has also managed to reduce COVID-19 patients' bed occupancy in hospitals.

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In this village telemedicine, authorities, such as puskesmas, villages, the military, and village chiefs, all collaborate in ensuring case findings and delivering medicines quickly, Wirotomo noted.

"This is a real example of mutual assistance at the level of villages in confronting Omicron," he remarked.

He expects that other villages can also follow suit by creating local telemedicine innovations to suppress Omicron case numbers starting from the grassroots' level.

"We need hard work and collaboration between the central and regional governments, especially at the level of villages. If this is built, we can break free from the shackles of Omicron infections," he stated.

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Translator: Rangga Jingga, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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