Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Health Ministry is working to prevent COVID-19 cases from increasing during Christmas and year-end holidays, the ministry's Director of Prevention and Control of Direct Infectious Diseases and COVID-19 Vaccination Spokesperson Siti Nadia Tarmizi said.

"The ministry is monitoring the current conditions in terms of COVID-19 in the country, starting from the restrictions on community activities (PPKM) indicator and the transmission rate. We strive to control the number of positive cases, daily cases, and mortality rate," she said here Friday.

The health ministry will coordinate with other ministries and institutions to suppress community mobility to 10 percent only during the Christmas and year-end holidays.

Taking a cue from the earlier Eid al-Fitr holiday in May, a drastic increase in mobility could cause the number of COVID-19 positive cases to increase.

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"The PeduliLindungi application is also our tool to see as an indicator of the transmission trend," she said.

According to Tarmizi, the Indonesian government should continue to curb the spread of COVID-19 until related parties change its status from pandemic to endemic. If it has been successfully suppressed, the COVID-19 endemic will only exist in some parts of Indonesia and appear at certain times.

To that end, the government also continues to expedite COVID-19 vaccination for all citizens. The government is pursuing to meet the vaccination target by the end of the year.

"If COVID-19 later becomes endemic in certain areas for a very long period, that means we are successful in reducing the number of cases to as low as possible, which means the positivity rate will continue to fall below one percent," she stated.

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Translator: Sanya Dinda S, Resinta S
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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