Gibran Rakabuming Raka, President Joko Widodo's eldest son and the mayor of Solo, says that he will continue to carry out his duties remotely after testing positive for the coronavirus – the latest high profile Indonesian public figure to do so.
Gibran, 33, announced via text messages to journalists yesterday that he tested positive for the coronavirus.
Gibran said he had been visiting high-risk places prior to his diagnosis, such as hospitals and vaccination centers. He said he's asymptomatic and has been in self-isolation, separated from his wife and two children who had tested negative.
"During my isolation period, I'm still working as usual. I'm still working on all these tasks, official notes. I'm still active, I lead meetings through Zoom everyday, coordinating with the heads of regional apparatus organizations," Gibran said during a virtual press conference yesterday.
The young mayor said he's also in constant coordination with the central government regarding the implementation of the Emergency Enforcement of Restrictions on Public Activities (Emergency PPKM) in his city, which is in effect until July 20 pending an expected extension.
Gibran is certainly not the first regional leader to contract COVID-19. In December, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan also tested positive for the coronavirus but exhibited only mild symptoms before making a recovery.
Not all politicians have been so lucky. On Sunday, Bekasi Regent Eka Supria Atmaja passed away from COVID-19 after struggling to find a hospital bed in his own regency as hospitals are over capacity.