By: Panji Saputra)*
Indonesia is still hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, but many people have violated health protocols. The public is asked to be more disciplined in carrying out health protocols, to stay healthy and protected from Corona transmission.
According to data from the Ministry of Health, the number of Corona patients in Indonesia is still around more than 2,000 people per day. However, at a time when the number of patients is still high and the pandemic is not over, there are more and more violations of health protocols. This can lead to massive Corona transmission, especially if many people have not been vaccinated.
The most frequent violation of health protocols is not wearing a mask when leaving the house. Even though masks are the first protection from droplets that can carry the Covid-19 virus. People who violate it feel normal. Even though this is dangerous because it will be imitated by others and more and more people are lazy to wear masks when doing activities outside the home.
The Kediri City Police carried out health protocol raids to several markets, including the Selowwareh Market, Ngadijaya, and the Kaliombo Flea Market. From the raids, there were 30 violators of health protocols who were not wearing masks. However, they only received a verbal reprimand.
Kediri City Police Chief AKP Mustakim, S.H stated that the health protocol raid was safe and under control. During the raid, the Kediri City Police distributed masks to market visitors.
The raid conducted by the Kediri City Police is very appropriate because it will remind the public that currently it is still a pandemic period. In addition, it is necessary to distribute masks again like at the beginning of the pandemic. Indonesians who still like to be given free stuff will be happy to wear masks.
There are still many violations of health protocols and people are not aware of the importance of wearing masks, especially when going to public places such as markets. Whereas in front of the market there should be officers reminding visitors to wash their hands and maintain protocol. They are also required to wear masks and if anyone does not wear a mask, they should be prohibited from entering.
Then, the punishment for violators of the health protocol is indeed not sacred and depends on the policies of the Regional Government. The punishment can be just a verbal reprimand, or social punishment such as sweeping the highway, cleaning the market, etc. There is even a local government that gives punishment to protocol violators in the form of an obligation to feed ODGJ (people with mental disorders) as a deterrent effect.
However, the public should realize the importance of maintaining health protocols and take it lightly, because the punishment is quite light. Although there are no high fines or extreme penalties, everyone should be orderly to wear masks and maintain other points in the health protocol.
The Central Bureau of Statistics conducted a survey regarding health protocol violations and the results were astonishing because 61% of the people violated it because they were bored with the pandemic. Meanwhile, 46% of respondents felt uncomfortable and ended up violating the protocol. A total of 32% of survey respondents also felt that the situation was safe from the Covid-19 virus.
Corona has been around for almost 3 years but don’t feel bored to wear masks and obey health protocols, because if there are many who violate it will increase the number of Covid-19 patients. The inconvenience of wearing masks should also not be considered because people will get used to wearing them and feel embarrassed when they don’t wear masks. The situation is also not safe because there are still 2,000 Corona patients per day.
Head of the Operations and Public Order Division of the Pekanbaru City Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP), Reza Aulia Putra, confirmed that he would continue to monitor the implementation of the Corona prevention health protocol in crowded centers in Pekanbaru. Currently Pekanbaru is included in PPKM level 1 and the Satpol PP will carry out morning, afternoon and night patrols.
Reza continued, patrols are carried out in green open spaces (RTH) and young people who hang out there will be given a warning. According to him, violators cannot be reprimanded too harshly because it will be related to the economy.
In a sense, the reprimand is only verbal so that it does not make people give up on leaving the house, because they also carry out economic activities such as trading. The raids conducted in Pekanbaru should also be carried out in other areas so that people are more orderly in obeying health protocols.
To prevent violations of health protocols, the local government and the authorities should carry out continuous socialization. If there is socialization, the public will be made aware that this is still a pandemic period. Therefore, everyone must comply with health protocols.
Violations of health protocols in the community still often occur and this is very unfortunate because there are people who think the pandemic is over. Even though the number of Cor patients
