The Indonesian Government should provide a clear explanation for its decision to impose simultaneous Level 3 restrictions on public activities (PPKM) on December 24, 2021, Airlangga University public policy observer, Gitadi Tegas Supramudyo, has said.

The implementation of Level 3 PPKM is part of the government’s efforts for preventing COVID-19 transmission, but there should be a clear explanation regarding the policy, he emphasized.

“I know the government is worried so it uses Level 3 PPKM to break the transmission chain. That is right, but the public’s question is that it is more important to explain (why) Level 3,” Supramudyo explained at an online discussion on Level 3 PPKM imposition during Christmas and New Year holidays here on Tuesday.

The government should also present to the public which programs can help prevent COVID-19 transmission, he said.

According to him, the good intentions of the government are not enough for determining public policy. Its decision must follow evidence-based data and the power of the public response to prevailing policies, he said.

With a detailed explanation, the community will be relatively more compliant with the restrictions for the Christmas and New Year holidays, he expounded.

If there is a clear and simple explanation regarding the policies that the government intends to make to maintain the declining cases of COVID-19 as of now, the public will be more compliant, he said.

In the general public’s view of epidemiology, a sudden rise in PPKM levels without any indication of increasing COVID-19 cases will certainly be confusing and generate many questions, Supramudyo explained.

Earlier, an epidemiologist from Griffith University, Australia, Dicky Budiman, had suggested that the application of PPKM on Christmas and New Year holidays should follow epidemiological indicators and be combined with a special tightening policy to anticipate a spike in cases.

“What is the base if it suddenly goes up straight to Level 3? That would be contradictory and cause demotivation, as it took incredible effort to reach Level 1,” Budiman explained.

Source: Antara News