"With the upcoming long holidays, people are advised to not travel abroad because the COVID-19 situation in other countries is different from that in Indonesia. There is a likelihood of COVID-19 transmission from abroad," Hartarto noted during his speech after a limited meeting on the evaluation of community activity restrictions (PPKM) led by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) at the State Palace, Jakarta, Monday.
Jokowi also drew attention to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in several countries. For instance, the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Shanghai, China, triggered the local authorities to implement a regional lockdown.
As reported by Reuters News Agency, 3,590 symptomatic cases and 19,923 asymptomatic cases were reported in Shanghai as of April 15, 2022. The number of asymptomatic cases grew from 19,872 the day before.
With the trend of increasing cases, Hartarto reminded that the COVID-19 pandemic was not over. He also noted that imported cases may trigger an increase in COVID-19 transmission in the country.
"We do not want to bring imported cases from foreign countries that have the likelihood of increasing the number of our domestic cases," he stated.
In Indonesia, data from the COVID-19 Handling Task Force showed that the trend of COVID-19 transmission had decreased significantly until mid-April of 2022. The number of additional daily confirmed cases of COVID-19 on April 17 had reached 607. Meanwhile, the number of active cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia totaled 58,278.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian government had administered over 198 million COVID-19 vaccines for the first dose, more than 162 million doses for the second dose, and over 31 million doses for the booster vaccine.
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Translator: Indra Arief P, Resinta S
Editor: Suharto
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