Health protocols implemented stringently for GPDRR

Badung, Bali (ANTARA) - National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Head Suharyanto emphasized that strict health protocols are implemented at the venue of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) event despite the travel bubble policy not being implemented.

Suharyanto expressed optimism that the event would not trigger a spike in COVID-19 cases since the COVID-19 vaccination achievement in Bali was quite high.

“This condition (vaccination achievement) has made us, the organizers, propose to President (Joko Widodo) to not implement the (travel) bubble system, and he agreed. Therefore, the implementation (of GPDRR) this time does not use the bubble system but still implements strict health protocols,” he explained here on Tuesday.

According to the BNPB head, the first dose of COVID-19 vaccination in Bali has reached above 100-percent coverage, the second dose has reached 96.7-percent coverage, and the third dose had reached above 60-percent coverage.

The BNPB head admitted that at first, his agency had planned to use the travel bubble policy, which would limit the mobility of participants.

However, on account of the improvement in the COVID-19 situation in Indonesia, especially in Bali, the BNPB deemed it unnecessary to implement the policy.

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"After the 2022 Eid holiday, Indonesia's (COVID-19) situation is very good, especially in Bali. For today, the daily confirmed positive cases are between 10 and 15," he noted.

Suharyanto also asserted that all participants at the venue, the Bali Nusa Dua Conference Center (BNDCC), had tested negative for COVID-19 based on PCR tests conducted by the organizers.

He noted that the various health protocols implemented during the event are an effort to gain the trust of the international community.

The 7th GPDRR forum is hosted in Nusa Dua, Bali, on May 23-28, 2022, with around four thousand participants attending offline and two thousand participants online from 193 countries.

The GPDRR forum is a global platform aimed at evaluating challenges and issues in disaster risk reduction and accelerating progress towards disaster resilience and sustainable development.

As the host, Indonesia has brought up the theme of "From Risk to Resilience: Towards Sustainable Development for Everyone in a World Changed by COVID-19" based on the country's capability to handle and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic situation that presented systemic risks.