PRESS RELEASE

The implementation of PON in Papua does not prioritize epidemiological aspects

September 24, 2021 Even in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, National Sports Week (PON) will officially continue to be held on 2 October – 15 October 2021 with a total of 44 sports, 679 matches spread across 4 cities and regencies in Papua Province.

Through an online discussion held on September 24 2021, involving epidemiologists, the Papuan medical community, LBH Papua and the Lokataru Foundation, LaporCovid-19 saw that the plan to implement PON in Papua still does not pay attention to the safety of residents and epidemiological aspects.

In this discussion event, Iqbal Elyazar, scientific collaborator of LaporCovid-19, reminded again that transmission events, such as holding large events, are one way of transmitting Covid-19. It should be remembered that PON involves quite a large number of participants, namely 6,300 athletes, 3,000 officials, 9,000 event supporters. The government requires that all parties involved in PON must be vaccinated and there must be strict health protocols implemented during the event.

Iqbal asked several critical questions, for example, is the vaccination required a full dose vaccine? Until now, we do not have data on whether 1 dose of vaccination is required or the full dose. Other data that has not been provided is how much complete Covid-19 vaccination coverage there is for event supporters. "All these rules feel too good to be true," said Iqbal.

Iqbal noted that only 14% of people in Papua have received the second dose of vaccine, so the regulations issued are not reflected in the data and reality on the ground. Vaccination also does not protect the rate of transmission or guarantee that infection does not occur, so 3T and 5M remain the key. Regarding the low positivity rate in the host cities and districts, Iqbal reminded us that we also need to know the scope of testing carried out,
So it could be that this low positivity rate could be false data. said Iqbal at this discussion event.

What also needs to be remembered is that the holding of the Olympic Games in Tokyo some time ago also caused an increase in cases among athletes and the organizing committee, even though there was the use of applications that monitored the movements of athletes and officials, the formation of a committee to monitor strict health protocols, and testing was carried out every day. Iqbal stated that there were no signs that these things were being implemented at PON. There was no mass vaccination movement at the organizing location. "This also proves that non-epidemiological considerations are what is important, perhaps more economic and political considerations," he said. Health protocol documents may have been provided, but Iqbal is not confident that this will be done consistently and with strict supervision.

Dr. Yohana, a representative from the Unlimited Medical Community, said that the health facilities at the PON venue were adequate. There was a shortage of oxygen available, but now it is there. Vaccination of citizens is increasing. However, Dr. Yohana also hopes that PON will not bring about a new wave of Covid-19. We want PON to be successful, but we hope that no residents will leave homework to us, such as an increase in cases.

In this discussion, Dr. Hasmi, M.Kes, Chair of the Association of Indonesian Epidemiologists (PAEI) Papua, noted that the 4 districts/cities that are PON venues are in the red zone category with low vaccine coverage. Apart from that, Dr. Hasmi also noted that the positivity rate per week has decreased to 1.42 percent, which previously was always above 15 percent, but tracing is very low, still not adequate, the tracing ratio is only 1:2.47, even though according to WHO for 1 case, 30 close contacts need to be looked for. This is still very far away, said Dr. Hasmi.

Regarding the available PCR tests, Dr. Hasmi, M.Kes noted that of the 24 districts that had Covid-19 cases, only 6 (25%) had PCR kits, with the city of Jayapura having the most PCR test kits. Not only that, there are also other challenges, namely that PCR is often damaged. The number of health workers who carry out tracing and vaccination is also only 51%. Another challenge is that religious figures who are key in socialization are also often consumed by hoaxes, said Dr. Hasmi.

Currently there are efforts from the government, especially in implementing PON, such as adding posts from the Covid-19 Task Force to improve health protocols and treatment, but Dr. Hasmi sees that this is not the most important thing considering that cases are already low. The key thing is 3T and risk communication education to the public to mitigate the spike in cases. Apart from that, we at PAEI have actually provided recommendations to the government to carry out a health risk assessment before PON, but we have not received that assessment at this time.

Emanuel Gobay, Director of LBH Papua, saw that the handling of the Covid-19 situation was still poor, reflected in vaccination activities. Vaccination implementation in Papua is still poor, patient screening is not optimal. In fact, in the field, residents who want to be vaccinated are divided into two camps, those who are willing because of certain ideas, but there are also those who refuse, said Emanuel. Another report obtained by LBH Papua was related to allegations of extortion by hospitals that infected patients with Covid. Residents also see that limiting residents' activities based on Covid-19 is counterproductive to holding PON which will definitely cause crowds.

Emanuel sees that the state is still not present in guaranteeing the right to health of residents in Papua, especially in implementing PON. There will be a large flow of people when PON is implemented so that the rate of transmission of Covid-19 will definitely increase again. There is also no single guide made before, immediately and after activities by the central government, provincial government and regional government implementing the PON. It is also not yet known whether the availability of hospitals and human resources for health workers will be able to accommodate them optimally when cases spike due to PON

From several cases in other places, Emanuel saw that events that cause crowds will produce many Covid-19 patients, such as Indian religious events and the Tokyo Olympics. There is a possibility that post-PON will have the impact of leaving a burden on the Papuan people. Emmanuel also asked about the state's capacity to overcome and deal with the negative impacts related to this PON. If the government allows and fails to handle this, you could say they are committing genocide. You should involve a doctor to provide input on how to treat this health condition.

In line with Emanuel, Tuva Alita, a Lokataru Foundation researcher also revealed that implementing PON is a counterproductive activity for handling the pandemic. Why do you continue to insist on large mass activities which have been proven to increase Covid-19 cases, let alone allowing spectators to enter, even though the health facilities in Papua are not as good as those on the island of Java. Tuva stated that the government needed to postpone the implementation of PON so that not many people were exposed to Covid-19.

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About LaporCovid19

LaporCovid19 is a platform for fellow citizens to share information regarding the number of incidents related to COVID-19 around us. A bottom-up approach through citizen reporting or crowdsourcing so that every citizen can participate in conveying information about cases related to COVID-19. For more information, visit:

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