Surabaya 's teenagers violating health protocols punished with push-ups

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini punished tens of teenagers with ten push-ups on Saturday evening because they did not wear face masks while hanging out on the city's sidewalk of Diponegoro Street.

"Last night, I got off my car to remind the teenagers of wearing face masks while venturing outdoors," she said here on Sunday.

Rismaharini said wearing face mask and practicing social and physical distancing measures while venturing outdoors are mandatory for the teenagers and other Surabaya' residents to break the chain of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

To this end, the residents must continuously be warned of practicing the preventive measures as mandated in the government's health protocols because thousands of people remain hospitalized owing to the deadly corona virus, she said.

She also ordered the personnel of Surabaya's Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) and Transportation Office to dismiss other teenagers playing games at a coffee shop on Diponegoro Street.

The teenagers violating the health protocols were also punished with 10 push-ups. They were then given face masks and ordered to go home while the local authority noted the coffee shop owner's ID card.

Tri Rismaharini said she would send any teenager diagnosed with COVID-19 symptoms to get quarantined for 14 days during which they were not allowed to receive any visitor.

In breaking the chain of COVID-19 in the city, Tri Rismaharini had earlier led an intensified public awareness campaign on the importance of consistently wearing face masks and implementing other preventive measures.

On July 12, for instance, along with several officials from Surabaya's regional apparatus organization (OPD) and those from the city police and Satpol PP, Rismaharini made her impromptu visit to several markets and neighborhoods around the city.

She rode a motorcycle during her impromptu visit to such places as Pakis, Krempyeng Putat Jaya, Mbok Abang, Ghanok, Soponyono, and Paing markets as well as the neighborhood areas of Banyu Urip Kidul, Simo Gunung Kramat Timur, and Simo Kwagean Kuburan.

During her visit to the places, including small villages, around this capital city of East Java Province, Rismaharini appealed to local residents to keep wearing face masks and maintaining physical distancing measure while venturing outdoors.

When seeing adults and kids who did not wear face masks, she asked her assistants to distribute the face masks to them.

"I appeal to all residents of Surabaya to respect the COVID-19 protocols through this public awareness campaign," she said.

Coronavirus infections initially surfaced in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019.

Since then, COVID-19 has spread to over 215 countries and territories, including 34 provinces of Indonesia, with a massive spurt in death toll.

The Indonesian government officially confirmed the country's first cases on March 2 this year. Surabaya has become one of Indonesia's cities with relatively high COVID-19 cases.