ER
TOURISTS who are going to spend the long holiday at the end of October in the city of Yogyakarta are asked to ensure that they are in good health, which is shown by carrying a health identity as an effort to anticipate the emergence of clusters of COVID-19 transmission during the holidays.
“Please visit Yogyakarta, but make sure that you are in good health. Health identities also need to be carried so that there are no clusters of transmission from the long holiday. The health identity in question is a result of a rapid test that shows non-reactive results or a swab test that shows negative results,” Yogyakarta Mayor Haryadi Suyuti in Yogyakarta said.
According to him, tourism service businesses such as hotels will ask tourists to show their health identity documents before checking-in to stay overnight, or show them at visiting places.
“And what must always be done is to apply health protocols in a disciplined manner. We are also working with the police and the TNI to carry out routine joint patrols to implement disciplined health protocols,” he said.
The public or tourists who are caught not implementing health protocols, especially wearing masks, can be subject to reprimands, social work sanctions or IDR100,000 fines, while businesses will be subject to sanctions for closure.
Meanwhile, the Daily Chair of the Yogyakarta COVID-19 Handling Task Force Heroe Poerwadi said that health identity is very important to provide protection to friends or family who are on vacation together as well as other people who also visit tourist attractions.
“To provide this protection, a medical examination is needed, either a rapid test or a swab test so that travel is safe and comfortable,” he noted.
In addition to the application of health protocols for tourists, a number of tourist attractions in Yogyakarta City have also implemented strict health protocols as evidenced by a health protocol verification letter from the local Tourism Office.
Tourists are encouraged to choose places to stay, tourist destinations, and places to eat that have implemented good and strict health protocols. In every hotel, restaurant, cafe, and tourist destination as well as other public services in Yogyakarta City, it is mandatory for them to have a COVID-19 team or Task Force to ensure that health protocols can be implemented properly.
“There is also a QR Code. Tourists are required to scan this QR Code and fill in the requested data. This is to facilitate the tracing process if exposure to COVID-19 appears at the tourist spot,” he added.
He also asked tourism service business managers to be disciplined in implementing restrictions on the number of visitors to ensure that the protocol to maintain distance can still be met.
One example is in the tourist area of Malioboro. The area is divided into five zones and each zone has a maximum capacity of 500 visitors at a time. Tourists are also asked to scan the QR Code that has been prepared so that monitoring the number of tourists in each zone can be done optimally. [antaranews/photo special]
