“The Health Ministry should evaluate the existing COVID-19 case handling and control pattern to know the factor or cause behind the continuing case rise, specifically after major holidays," he said in a statement released on Friday.
He made the appeal in response to a COVID-19 case spike after Eid al-Fitr 1444 H. For instance, 125 cases were detected in Sleman, Yogyakarta, as of Thursday.
The politician, who is nicknamed Bamsoet, asked the central and regional governments to carry out mapping of regions experiencing a COVID-19 case spike after the holiday.
"This must be done so that the vaccination handling and acceleration effort can be directed toward these regions," he explained.
He also urged the government to once again intensify testing and tracing, as a form of early COVID-19 detection.
This is because Indonesia is still drawing attention for its COVID-19 tracking, which is deemed to be low. The number of people voluntarily reporting for COVID-19 testing is also low.
Soesatyo also urged the public to understand that the pandemic has not completely ended and be alert in view of the emergence of the XBB.1.16 or Arcturus sub-variant, which is known to have a fast infection rate.
"There is still a potential for infection, thus alertness and discipline toward the health protocol, specifically in the use of masks, are still necessary," he stressed.
He also asked the government and the COVID-19 Handling Task Force to strengthen whole genome sequencing (WGS) once more to identify potential new variants.
"This can be one of the efforts to detect the spread of active cases early," he explained.
According to data, 1,879 COVID-19 positive cases were recorded in Indonesia as of Thursday, which was an increase compared to 1,399 cases on Wednesday.
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Translator: Gilang G, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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