"Within the past two to three months, the number of active cases has not reached more than nine people," Tjejep Yudiana noted here on Saturday.
"If this can remain for six months, if the number of active cases does not reach two digits, then the government can reduce the pandemic status in Riau Islands to endemic," he added.
According to the task force's records, the number of active COVID-19 cases in the province is currently pegged at five— two in Batam and three in Karimun.
The central government can decide a province’s COVID-19 endemic status. This calculation for a region is based on the size of the population.
Riau Islands is capable of stemming the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, the province has relatively few active COVID-19 cases, Yudiana said.
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Despite this, the people must still be cautious because active cases in a number of provinces in Indonesia have tended to increase in the past three days.
"Implementing the health protocols while interacting in a crowded place is a must," he said.
The COVID-19 Handling Task Force designated Lingga a green zone about a month ago. Anambas was declared a green zone around two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, five other regions in Riau Islands -- Bintan, Karimun, Batam, Tanjungpinang, and Natuna -- still have yellow zone status, or are considered areas with low infection risk.
Earlier, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, had said that the government will monitor the development of the pandemic situation for two months before changing the status to endemic.
"We all have to stand united in facing this (COVID-19 pandemic) because we cannot go on like this for too long," the minister said during a working meeting with the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives (DPR) here on Thursday.
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Translator: Nikolas Panama, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Suharto
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