"We have seen that there are five provinces on the island of Sumatra and two provinces in Kalimantan that we must be extra careful with, so that we can prepare well," Minister Sadikin noted during a virtual press conference monitored from Jakarta, Tuesday.
These provinces include West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Riau, Riau Islands, West Sumatra, South Sumatra, and Lampung.
Sadikin noted that the government had striven to take precautionary measures against a spike in cases in several potentially vulnerable areas, considering that the Delta variant has a swift transmission rate.
"We have seen there will be a fairly high increase and spike in other provinces that will allow in the future. We anticipate it," he remarked.
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Meanwhile, based on the daily report from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the daily number of cases in West Sumatra Province on Monday (July 5) had reached 101, while as many as 104 others were declared cured. However, the number of deaths in that area tends to be higher than in other areas, reaching 25 patients.
During the same period, daily cases in East Kalimantan were reported to have reached 428, while 223 others were declared cured and 18 patients had died.
The daily confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in Riau had reached 424, while as many as 272 others were declared cured and 11 patients had died.
Meanwhile, in Riau Islands, 408 daily cases were reported, 535 were declared cured, and 12 patients had died.
West Sumatra reported that there were 81 daily positive confirmed cases, 126 patients were declared cured, and 11 other patients died.
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Daily cases in South Sumatra reached 172 cases, while 135 others recovered, and nine patients died.
The BNPB also reported daily cases in Lampung having reached 306, while 52 patients recovered, and four patients were declared dead.
The Indonesian government is set to introduce telemedicine services on Tuesday to tackle difficulties encountered by the public in obtaining COVID-19 medicines, Maritime Affairs and Investment Coordinating Minister’s spokesman, Jodi Mahardi, earlier stated.
"The government will roll out telemedicine services in Jakarta as of Tuesday. The public can undergo COVID-19 swab tests at laboratories in cooperation with the Health Ministry. If they test positive, then the government will deliver medicines to them for free," Mahardi noted in a written statement released on Tuesday.
Telemedicine, also referred to as telehealth or e-medicine, is the remote delivery of healthcare services, including exams and consultations, over telecommunications infrastructure.
Telemedicine is part of the government's endeavors to address the inadequacy of COVID-19 drugs, as the country's COVID-19 caseload has augmented drastically in recent weeks.
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Translator: Andi F, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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