Yogyakarta City Government plans to attach a barcode to visitors to Malioboro Street as a solution as part of the “new normal”.
Deputy Mayor of Yogyakarta, Heroe Poerwadi explained that the barcode attachment will be to facilitate monitoring of possible violations of health protocols. One possible violation would be mass crowds not maintaining physical distancing.
He added that the location of visitors with a barcode will be scanned in each area. The data will be sent directly to Yogyakarta City Government’s server so that people density can be. If a COVID-19 case is found in the area, tracking and tracing will be relatively easy to do.
“We learned from the Indogrosir cluster where we conducted rapid testing with proof of the results,” said Heroe.
The Chairperson of the Yogyakarta City COVID-19 Task Force added that the concept of barcode crowd monitoring has been prepared for Malioboro Street and its surrounding areas. Monitoring will start from Taman Pintar and the Alun-Alun Utara, up to Beringharjo Market, and on to Malioboro Street.
He continued that the concept of visitor data collection through this barcode scheme had previously been initiated and tested in Gondomanan District, Yogyakarta City. “Initially, the Gondomanan sub-district made a barcode that had to be scanned by visitors around Alun-Alun Utara, after that, the visitor was required to fill in their personal data,” he said.
In addition to monitoring people by barcode, Heroe added that the city government will also impose a one-way pedestrian system. Pedestrians from the north will walk on the east side of the street whilst pedestrians coming from the south will walk on the west side.
Also Read List of the 100 Safest Countries From COVID-19
“There are north, central, and south doors. There are pedestrian paths so they don’t touch each other. We hope that this trial can be implemented gradually for all regions in the city of Yogyakarta,” he said.
Previously, the Governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY), Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X, had threatened to disperse the crowd in Malioboro if the visitors continued to gather without obeying the health protocols. Moreover, the risk of COVID-19 transmission in DIY is still high.
Source: CNN Indonesia
Image: Berita Baru