Until now, the strong collaboration between the government and the community in our nation has brought success in suppressing the spread of COVID-19Jakarta (ANTARA) - Communications and Informatics Minister Johnny G. Plate affirmed that rapid developments in digital infrastructure and services in the past two years had helped Indonesia to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We knew that COVID-19 was a new occurrence, but with the availability of digital infrastructure and services that we have prepared, we had increased our capability in handling the pandemic," Plate stated on Wednesday.
Plate later conveyed his ministry's evaluation results in the last two years regarding the use of digital infrastructure for handling COVID-19 in Indonesia.
At the end of 2020, some 3,126 health service facilities still had no access to internet services.
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However, in early 2021, the government had intensified collaboration with various parties to optimize satellite services. This measure helped to connect thousands of health facilities through digital services and digital infrastructure.
The presence of this digital infrastructure has helped the government to collect the latest information and data regarding COVID-19 handling, starting from information on self-isolation and hospitals, as well as data tracing in addition to info on COVID-19 vaccine recipients.
Digital services have facilitated the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially during a period of significant increase in cases due to the Delta variant.
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The government had also developed various telemedicine services, such as PeduliLindungi, Pcare, and SMILE belonging to the Ministry of Health, to optimize pandemic-handling efforts.
However, Plate affirmed that digital infrastructure and services will be useful if people play an active role in using them prudently.
He also lauded the steps taken by Indonesian citizens, who were willingly to work together in these difficult conditions.
"Until now, the strong collaboration between the government and the community in our nation has brought success in suppressing the spread of COVID-19," the minister concluded.
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Translator: Livia K, Resinta S
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
