Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia at Live-Streamed Limited Meeting on the Evaluation of Public Activity Restriction (PPKM) Implementation 6 September 2021, Merdeka Palace, Special Capital Region of Jakarta

At the public activity restriction (PPKM) evaluation meeting this afternoon, I would like to address several matters.

First, we must inform the people that COVID-19 will never disappear completely. What we can [do] is to control it. This is important. This statement is crucial to prevent excessive euphoria, excessive excitement. The people need to be aware that COVID-19 still lingers. The Delta variant always watches us. Once we let our guard down, [the number of cases] can surge again.

Second, I have noticed that—looking at [the number of] daily cases in the past three days, namely 7.700 [cases], 6,700 [cases], and 5,400 [cases], our national BOR, which was 21 [percent] three days ago, decreased to 20 [percent] and now it fell to 19 [percent]. [The BOR of] Wisma Atlet emergency hospital three days ago was 11 [percent], and today it is 9 percent. This news was important, but now this information must not be misunderstood that we can now do this and that. This is dangerous.

Therefore, I order you to evaluate which regions have seen a spike, which regions have seen a drop. This is vital so we must take action immediately to continue to reduce the number of cases, especially active cases. We are aware that our active cases reached around 500,000. Today, as far as I remember, it is around 150,000 [cases]. If we continue our work consistently, I believe that, God willing, at the end of September, we will have fewer than 100,000 [cases].

I also want the attention of everyone who is related to transportation, perhaps Minister of Transportation. Pay attention to the new variant, the Mu variant. We must truly be more vigilant and detailed. Do not let this jeopardize the achievements we have made.

That concludes my opening remarks. (DH/EP)