"Vaccination is more dominant in causing communal herd immunity to be formed," he noted here.
Ahmad, who is also serving as head of the Riau Islands COVID-19 Handling Task Force, said that the results of the Health Ministry's research showed that Riau Islands is among the provinces with the best level of community immunity in Indonesia.
"This is linear with the number of COVID-19 patients in the Riau Islands, which has decreased considerably. Hopefully, all COVID-19 patients in Riau Islands will recover soon," he added.
According to head of the Riau Islands Health Office, Muhamad Bisri, the number of COVID-19 patients in the province has decreased by up to 50 percent compared to September 2022. Currently, the number of active cases or patients who are still undergoing isolation is 29.
The 29 patients comprise 14 patients from Batam city, 5 patients from Tanjungpinang city, 7 patients from Bintan district, 2 patients from Karimun district, and 1 patient from Natuna district.
Related news: Riau Islands has likely entered COVID endemic phase: task force
He further informed that the coverage of the first COVID-19 vaccination has reached 1,789,030, or 99.24 percent of the target; second dose 1,534,698, or 85.13 percent of the target; and the third dose 734,704, or 53.50 percent of the target.
Spokesperson for the Riau Islands COVID-19 Handling Task Force, Tjetjep Yudiana, said COVID-19 patients are showing mild symptoms and not being treated in hospitals.
Currently, self-isolation is also not as strict as at the beginning of the pandemic until 2021, he added. Residents infected with COVID-19 can self-isolate at home and carry out activities around the house by using double masks.
"Several people who died in Batam and Tanjungpinang are those who had comorbidities and had not been vaccinated. They were mostly older adults," Yudiana said.
Related news: Active COVID cases in Riau Islands see significant decline
Related news: Riau Islands Governor to issue circular to anticipate COVID surge
Translator: Nikolas Panama, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
