VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

 Indonesian House Speaker Puan Maharani urged the government to optimize the COVID Quick Handling Task Force’s role in executing its integrated tasks to contain the coronavirus outbreak under the National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s (BNPB’s) coordination.

"The integrated tasks include raising awareness, conducting early detection, treating patients, handling impacts, and rehabilitating in accordance with the WHO protocol," she noted in a written statement released on Monday.

The task force must immediately announce the steps entailed in handling the COVID-19 outbreak transparently to the public, including concrete steps to avert the spread of COVID-19 that the WHO has declared as a pandemic on March 11, she emphasized.

The task force should also represent the government to proffer a sense of security among members of the public through several concrete steps entailing raising awareness, disseminating education, conducting mitigation and emergency response, and ensuring social restriction to address the COVID-19 outbreak, she remarked.

The government, through the BNPB, should also promote public and private participation in addressing the COVID-19 outbreak, she affirmed.

The House speaker also voiced support to any effort to declare COVID-19 as a non-natural national disaster.

"The declaration of status is a response to this incident through emergency response steps under coordination of the BNPB," she added.