"Indonesia is one of the countries that's relatively far better than other countries, including our neighboring countries (in terms of the COVID-19 situation),” he said in a press statement on the ‘Limited Meeting on the Evaluation of the Implementation of Restrictions on Community Activities (PPKM),’ here on Monday.
However, the government will remain cautious and monitor global developments regarding the potential for new variants of COVID-19, he added.
"The government realizes that the high spike in cases is always caused by the emergence of new variants. Therefore, we always monitor the new variants that exist," he said.
The current spike in cases in Europe and China has been caused by a new variant, namely Omicron BA.2, the minister noted. This variant has also entered Indonesia and has become the dominant variant.
"We are lucky with the condition of the Indonesian people's immunity which is quite good so that this new variant has not caused a spike in cases," Sadikin said.
Given the fairly controlled conditions, the government is optimistic that people will be able to carry out their activities more freely, he added.
Based on a serological survey of the Indonesian population for the SARS-CoV-2 virus conducted in November–December 2021, 86.6 percent of the Indonesian population had antibodies against COVID-19.
That means that 86.6 percent of Indonesia's population had immunity to COVID-19 in that month. However, this number is expected to continue to grow as the government continues to pursue its vaccination program, he said.
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The government has allowed citizens to go back to their hometowns during this year's Eid since the public's health condition is already adequately protected through vaccinations, the minister added.
"The government feels confident that we can carry out activities more freely," he said.
The Eid homecoming policy is a follow-up to President Joko Widodo's directive that people be allowed to go back to their hometowns to enjoy the month of Ramadan and the Eid holidays, he added.
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Translator: Katriana
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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