“After the WHO's announcement, it will be President Joko Widodo who decides (whether the emergency status will be lifted). We will find the time (to discuss) later," he said after the launch of the overseas fellowship for doctors taking specialist education here on Monday.
He informed that he is still waiting for the President's free schedule to have a dialogue on plans to lift the COVID-19 emergency status ahead of the 42nd ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).
The regulation on COVID-19 as a public health emergency was contained in Presidential Decree No. 11 of 2020.
The WHO on May 5 declared that COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency, more than three years after it was declared as such on January 30, 2020.
The decision was taken by WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyasus based on inputs from the Emergency Committee on International Health Regulation at its 15th virtual meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.
The meeting was held in view of the declining global pandemic situation over the past year, the increasing immunity level in the population due to vaccination and natural infection, and the decreasing mortality rate.
Meanwhile, based on the report of Indonesia's COVID-19 Handling Task Force, there were 17,829 active cases as of May 8, with an increase of 1,149 cases, and 21 deaths.
This figure is still below the WHO's safe threshold of a maximum of eight thousand active cases per day in Indonesia.
On a separate occasion, Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), Bambang Soesatyo, asked the government to look at the country's situation while responding to the WHO's step of ending the COVID-19 emergency status. The number of cases in Indonesia has increased amid the decision, he added.
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Translator: Andi F, Kenzu
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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