“They accused me of being God, because they determine whether someone is exposed to Covid-19.”

KOMPAS.com – Residents in the District Mimicry, Papua Province, said, there are still many residents in the region who do not believe in the outbreak Covid-19, which has taken many lives.

Head of the Section for Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (P2M) at the Mimika Health Office, Obet Tekege, said this was one of the biggest obstacles for health workers to conduct close contact tracing of confirmed positive patients.

Especially among their family members and relatives.

“Until now, indigenous Papuans do not believe in the existence of the corona virus, they think the virus was brought from outside. This is of course an obstacle because according to data some indigenous Papuans in Mimika are now exposed to the corona virus,” said Obet, as reported Among, Wednesday (4/11/2020).

Also read: Mimika Has an ADM Machine Like an ATM, One-Touch Outgoing Resident Certificate

Obet said that people’s distrust of the Covid-19 pandemic has actually created a stigma for patients and their families.

The impact also befalls the Mimika Health Office epidemiological investigators who daily have to carry out contact tracing of positive confirmed patients.

They are said to be often faced with unsympathetic attitudes from residents.

“We were severely berated by the residents, even our colleagues were stoned. They accused me of being God for determining whether someone has Covid-19 or not. People threatened to come and destroy my house,” said Obet.

Residents who do not believe in the Covid-19 outbreak are said to not only live on the outskirts of Timika City such as Kwamki Lama, SP13, SP7 and others, but also residents in Timika City.

“Especially for those who live in boarding houses, it is the most difficult for our officers to find because they are afraid of the stigma of other neighbors,” he said.

Finally, a positive Covid-19 patient who was asked to carry out independent isolation ended up being dishonest to the Mimika Health Office epidemiological investigation team, by providing an unclear home address.

“They reported the wrong address. When we came to the address given, none of the local residents knew him. There were also those who gave him a clear address, but when he was visited the officer concerned was not at his house,” said Obet.

Citizens must dare to eliminate indifference to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Also read: Additional 48 Corona Cases, Mimika Prepares Emergency Hospital

In addition, do not stigmatize patients exposed to Covid-19 and their families so that the epidemic can be immediately cut off from the chains.

Mimika is the area with the second highest number of Covid-19 cases in Papua Province after Jayapura City, with more than 2,500 exposed residents and around 2,100 of whom have been declared cured.

To date, 25 people have been reported dead as a result of the corona in Mimika.

– .