Based on the results of last week's review nationally, the trend of daily cases and hospitalizations has started to declineJakarta (ANTARA) - Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin confirmed that the Indonesian government is outlining a strategy to change the status of the COVID-19 pandemic to an endemic phase.
"We also received direction from the president, with input from the coordinating minister regarding the strategy (to shift) from pandemic to endemic. We have prepared the protocol," Sadikin stated at an online press conference accessed here on Sunday.
The minister explained that President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) had called for careful consideration before arriving at the decision by taking into account various approaches from the scientific, health, social, cultural, and economic aspects.
"The president directed it to be applied judiciously, and scientific and health considerations are used to strike a balance with socio-cultural and economic considerations," he explained.
The minister noted that several countries that had lifted various restrictions related to COVID-19 had taken into account various approaches and not only health and scientific approaches.
"We understand that we cannot just use the health or scientific considerations, and that is what also occurred in other countries," he remarked.
To this end, President Jokowi has requested that the consideration of the various approaches be balanced, so that the government can take good and appropriate decisions.
On the occasion, Sadikin pointed out that the government had recorded a downward trend in the number of COVID-19 daily cases, and hospitalizations in Indonesia had started to decline as well.
"Based on the results of last week's review nationally, the trend of daily cases and hospitalizations has started to decline," he noted.
He explained that several provinces had confirmed a decline in COVID-19 transmissions and positivity rates, such as Jakarta, Bali, Banten, Maluku, Papua, and West Nusa Tenggara.
The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Indonesia in March 2020. According to data from the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, as of February 27, 2022, Indonesia had recorded a total of 5,539,394 COVID-19 cases, 4,817,423 recoveries, and 148,073 deaths.
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Translator: Anita Permata, Raka Adji
Editor: Sri Haryati
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