JAKARTA, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Indonesia's move to reopenschools in some areas risks creating new clusters of coronaviruscases, with at least 180 students and teachers infected since anew academic year started in July, a teachers' federation saidon Thursday.
The world's fourth-most populous country has allowed schoolsto reopen with limited capacity in "yellow" and "green" zones,with fewer reported cases and covering 43% of the studentpopulation, according to government data.
Parents can opt not to send their children to schools inthese areas and extracurricular activities are not allowed.
Heru Purnomo, the secretary general of The Federation ofIndonesian Teachers Associations (FSGI), said distance learningwas still preferable.
"We've always sounded out our worries that schools couldbecome new clusters," Purnomo said. "Distance learning, be itoffline or online, is safer than face-to-face lessons."
Wiku Adisasmito, a spokesman at Indonesia's COVID-19 taskforce, told reporters on Thursday that new clusters would notbreak out at schools if all health protocols were adhered to.
Explaining the policy of limited reopening, educationminister Nadiem Makarim told a streamed talkshow on Wednesdaythat almost 90 percent of children live in areas where "most ofthe students find it extremely difficult to do any type oftechnology-based distance learning."
In its situation report on Thursday, the World HealthOrganization in Indonesia warned a return to schools "risksworsening local transmission, putting a heavier burden on thenation's limited healthcare facilities and workers and, in thelong term, slowing down the economic recovery."
Some provinces have reported a significant number of casesamong the young. In Papua, nearly 300 people aged under 19 hadconfirmed infections as of Wednesday.
A co-founder of Lapor COVID-19, a volunteer group collating information, told Reuters it had found six clusters originatingin schools that had reopened in West Kalimantan on the island ofBorneo.
Indonesia has reported 132,816 coronavirus infections and5,968 deaths, the highest death toll in Southeast Asia. Around9% of infections are among the 0-18 age group.
(Reporting by Stanley Widianto and Kate Lamb; Editing by EdDavies and Kim Coghill) ((Widianto.Stanley@thomsonreuters.com;))
