"Yesterday, our daily (COVID-19) cases were at 1,200, and probably, at the end of the year, we will declare the lifting of PSBB (large-scale social restrictions), the PPKM are lifted," the president stated at the Indonesia Economic Outlook 2023 here on Wednesday.
Jokowi noted that based on the latest data, the downward trend in daily COVID-19 cases continued to occur. He cited as an example that, as of Tuesday, Indonesia's daily COVID-19 case count stood at 1,200.
The figure showed a drastic decline as compared to the peak of the Omicron spread, which reached 64 thousand cases in a single day.
According to the president, the difficult situation of the COVID-19 pandemic was able to be handled well and be brought under control. This is because the government maintained a calm stance and made careful calculations to handle the difficult situation.
"We remember that at that time, there were not enough personal protective equipment. There was no oxygen. Patients piled up in hospitals. Luckily, we were still calm, not nervous, so we could manage this very difficult situation," he remarked.
The president recalled that when the Delta variant hit Indonesia, almost 80 percent of the ministers in his cabinet advised him to implement a lockdown. At that time, Indonesia's daily COVID-19 case count reached 56 thousand.
"I remember almost 80 percent of the ministers advised me to (implement a) lockdown. The community also conveyed the same thing. If we had done that at that time, maybe the story would be different now," he noted.
The first case of COVID-19 in Indonesia was confirmed in March 2020. According to data from the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, as of December 20, 2022, the nation has recorded 6,711,703 COVID-19 cases, 6,525,525 recoveries, and 160,451 deaths.
Translator: Indra Arief, Raka Adji
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
