Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Development of Disadvantaged Regions, Villages, and Transmigration (PDTT) Abdul Halim Iskandar has called on village chiefs to prepare quarantine centers to stave off the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).
"Schools, places of worship, village halls, or homes lent by residents can serve as isolation rooms," the PDTT minister noted in a statement here on Thursday.
Iskandar has issued circulars that instruct village chiefs to establish volunteer task forces against COVID-19 and village volunteer protocols in tackling the pandemic.
The COVID-19 task forces should help ready quarantine rooms replete with facilities, including for bathing and washing, as well as toilets and beds.
The isolation rooms are intended for use for villagers under monitoring status (ODP), as they had recently returned from COVID-19 affected regions.
"That is because not all villagers have adequate rooms in the house. How can you isolate people if their houses have no separate rooms? The solution lies in using elementary school buildings and village halls and placing partitions to create several rooms," Iskandar noted.
The ministry had earlier issued Circular No. 8 of 2020, dated March 24, 2020, that ordered authorities in rural areas to form volunteer teams and utilize village funds to fight the spread of COVID-19.
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