Palembang eyes green zone tag through health protocol compliance

Palembang, S Sumatra (ANTARA) - The Palembang city government, South Sumatra, has urged local residents to abide by health protocols to create a zone safe from COVID-19 transmission.

"Currently, the city of Palembang is still imposing level 3 community activities restrictions, while other districts and cities in South Sumatra are starting to impose level 2," Palembang's regional secretary Ratu Dewa stated here on Tuesday.

Residents' strict adherence to health protocols contributed significantly in reducing the level of community activities restrictions to obtain the green zone tag.

The key to reducing the risk of transmission of COVID-19 is for the city residents to follow procedures in a disciplined approach, such as by always wearing masks, washing hands, and maintaining physical distance when conducting activities outdoors.

With the disciplined implementation of procedures, the risk of transmission of the new type of coronavirus could be reduced and the level of community activities restrictions could gradually dropped to the green zone, he remarked.

Dewa explained that if Palembang continued to impose high-level community activities restrictions, their activities would be limited. Moreover, some activities would be outrightly banned.

However, when the restriction level drops to level 3, several activities that were earlier banned at level 4 may be conducted again. However, they must be conducted with some limitations whilst also adhering to strict health protocols.

The city residents are now allowed to host weddings at conference halls and hotels, although they can only invite a limited number of guests while also following a set of strict health protocols. On the other hand, malls, cafes, tourist attractions, and schools have started to open.

If residents can keep up with the relaxed community activities restrictions regulations by following strict health procedures and minimizing cases of COVID-19 transmission, Palembang can reduce the community activities restrictions level to its lowest and secure the green tag. On the other hand, if they ignore health protocols, the community activities restrictions would rise to level 4, which could have social and economic impacts, he pointed out.