Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Government is currently focusing on getting the country to enter the deceleration phase of COVID-19, government spokesperson for COVID-19 handling, Reisa Broto Asmoro, said on Monday.

"If we talk about Indonesia or other countries, each country has different conditions," she said at the "Deceleration Phase in Indonesia" online broadcast, which was accessed from here on Monday.

Currently, the government is focusing on preparing Indonesia for entering the COVID-19 deceleration phase, which is one phase below the pandemic phase, she informed.

The deceleration phase is a condition during which the number of new cases, both nationally and globally, experience a downward trend, influenced by the presence of new variants or the formation of community immunity, Asmoro said.

Even though neighboring countries, such as Malaysia, have declared that they are entering the endemic phase, and several other countries have relaxed the health protocols, Indonesia cannot follow the same route because the condition in each country is different, she explained.

The policies that the government is implementing are based on a number of indicators that have been evaluated throughout the pandemic, for example, the coverage of COVID-19 vaccinations.

Specifically, for making the right policies, the government cannot only consider the health and science aspects, but must look at all aspects such as social, cultural, and economic.

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"For Indonesia, the strategy to move from the pandemic to endemic (phase), as instructed by the President, must be considered carefully, (and) not only considering the science and health aspects only," the spokesperson said.

To this end, even though the travel restrictions for international and domestic travelers have been relaxed, she reminded the public to keep complying with the health protocols so that COVID-19 cases in the country can be controlled and virus transmission can be brought to the lowest level.

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 March 14, 2022, Indonesia has recorded a total of 5,900,124 COVID-19 cases, 5,434,729 recoveries, and 152,437 deaths.

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Translator: Hreeloita Dharma, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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