Vice Speaker of the House, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, gives a press conference. Foto : Yoga/Man

Confirmed COVID-19 cases cumulatively reached 100,303 as of Monday (27/7/2020) nationwide. According to Worldometers data, Indonesia ranks 24 among countries in the world with the most cases, surpassing China where the outbreak originated. China ranks 26 with 83,959 cases.

In his response to the rising number of confirmed cases, Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, said that a measure would be taken to operate a mechanism deemed necessary to see the government’s action in battling the COVID-19. He further stressed that if needed, the Indonesian House would hold a meeting with the government to discuss this matter. With its oversight function, the House has the authority to submit questions to the government related to this issue.

“We know that the government has formed the National Economic Recovery and COVID-19 Response Team after signing the President Regulation Number 82 of 2020. Honestly we put much hope that the regulation is designed to secure good implementation,” said Ahmad when responding to journalists in Nusantara III Building, Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Tuesday (28/7/2020).

The politician from Great Indonesian Movement (Gerindra) Party also commented on the government’s plan to reopen tourism sector soon. Given the tourism sector needed further attention, he suggested a partial reopening for a trial of the implementation of stricter and more disciplined COVID-19 health protocols.

“If we do not pay close attention to the tourism sector, the impact on vulnerable communities who live in tourist destinations and rely on tourism as a vehicle to spur their economy will be enormous. Therefore, I suggest a trial to partially reopen tourism be carried out while also conducting rapid and swab tests,” said the Coordinator of the House’ COVID-19 Task force.

Regarding a recent case in Bali where local Balinese residents refused to take COVID-19 tests, Ahmad stressed that it is the duty of the local government to convince the people to take the test in order to ensure tourists that their places are safe for tourists destinations while also providing sense of security. “If foreign tourists find out that Bali provides good practice examples in the implementation of protocols and good handling of COVID-19, I think they will make it as their alternative tourist destination again amid the pandemic,” concluded the Vice Speaker of the Indonesian House for Economy and Finance.