Banjarmasin, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) - Head of Banjarmasin Health Agency Machli Riyadi said the main factor in the current rising cases of COVID-19 in the city was flooding.
"Yes, due to the flood, COVID-19 cases have increased, because many residents have ignored health protocols. In fact, they were in panic during the disaster," he said here, Wednesday.
When the flood subsided, it was discovered that many residents had contracted the virus due to health protocols, namely neglected wearing masks, maintaining distance, and washing hands with soaps.
According to the data from the South Kalimantan COVID-19 Task Force, Banjarmasin residents who were detected exposed to COVID-19 were more than 30 per day in the last few days, even on Wednesday (Feb 17, 2021) there were 50 additional cases.
The total cases of COVID-19 in the city of Banjarmasin have exceeded 5,000, or to be precise 5,053 people, 4.378 of them had recovered, and 186 people died.
Machli Riyadi hopes that residents to stay on alert and comply with the micro-scale of restriction on community activities (PPKM mikro) until February 22. Everyone should be disciplined in implementing health protocol that was neglected during the flood.
"We ask everyone no to ignore it anymore, let's strengthen our resistance to this virus. The only way is to comply with rules for handling COVID-19," he said.
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