Gov’t to Focus on 12 Districts/Cities With Highest Number of COVID-19 Cases

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has ordered his Cabinet to focus on handling COVID-19 cases in 12 districts/cities that have seen the highest number of cases.

Those 12 districts/cities that have more than 1,000 active cases and have contributed 30 percent of the total national active cases are Central Jakarta, West Jakarta, East Jakarta, North Jakarta, South Jakarta, Pekanbaru City, Bekasi City, Depok City, Bogor Regency, Padang City, Jayapura City, and Ambon City.

For the record, as of October this year Indonesia has reported an average growth of active cases at 19.97 percent, a drop to that in the previous month.

“The figure is higher than the average active cases as of 27 September 2020 that reached 22.46 percent. So the decline is very visible from 22.46 (percent) to 19.97 (percent),” said the President.

The figure is also lower than the global average of 22.1 percent, he added.

In the meantime, the average recovery in Indonesia, according to the President, is also higher than that of of the global recovery rate.

“The average recovery rate (in Indonesia) as of 11 October is 76.48 percent, higher than that of the global average figure at 75.03 percent,” he said.

As for the death rate, he added, has also dropped to 3.55 percent. “This is better than two weeks ago which was at 3.77 percent. However, it is still higher than the global death rate of 2.88 percent,” the President said.

President Jokowi also ordered his Cabinet to continue increasing the recovery rate and reduce the death rate.

“(The recovery rate) must continue to be improved by increasing the standard of treatment both in the hospitals, in the ICUs, and in isolation places,” said the President.

The President also ordered improvements in the 3T (testing, tracing, and treatment) efforts. “Testing, tracing, and treatment must continuously be improved so that the gap between one province and another, especially regarding testing, can be narrowed down well,” said the President.

The Head of State also stressed the importance of maintaining discipline in implementing health protocols to reduce the number of positive cases of COVID-19.

Regarding economic recovery efforts, President Jokowi pointed out that the realization of the budget as of 7 October reached 66 percent for the social assistance programs, 76 percent for the MSMEs, and 94 percent for energy subsidies. (FID/UN)

Translated by: Estu Widyamurti
Reviewed by: M. Ersan Pamungkas