Gov’t to Strengthen National Health Security As COVID-19 Cases Drop

By Office of Assistant to Deputy Cabinet Secretary for State Documents & Translation     Date 6 September 2021
Category: News
Read: 382 Views

Vice Minister of Health Dante Saksono Harbuwono during Press Conference on PPKM (06/09/2021). (Source: YouTube Channel of Presidential Secretariat)

The Government has announced that Indonesia has passed its COVID-19 peak considering the number of confirmed cases, bed occupancy ratio (BOR), and death rate has decreased.

Nevertheless, Vice Minister of Health Dante Saksono Harbuwono on Monday (06/09) reminded everyone to stay vigilant in facing COVID-19 pandemic.

“Do not let the drop in COVID-19 cases make us negligent, as the President said. It is the right time to strengthen our health security,” Dante said during a livestreamed press conference on public activity restrictions (PPKM).

According to Dante, spike in COVID-19 cases still occurs in neighboring countries including Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

He added that other countries with high vaccination rate (more than 50 percent) are also experiencing spike in COVID-19 cases including the United State and the United Kingdom.

“The spike was caused by vaccinated people who ignore health protocols. Therefore, vaccination is not the only game changer, but is one of the important components to carry out. Observing health protocols in public places is also important,” Dante said.

In addition boosting vaccination and complying with health protocols, Dante underscored that it is also important to boost tracing measure to curb COVID-19 transmission.

Currently, Dante added, the national positivity rate continues to drop and is approaching 6.79 percent; thus, the number of tracings that now has reached 7.98 percent must be increased to avoid the spike in COVID-19 cases.

Dante also reminded everyone to stay vigilant as the number of people’s mobility increases during next month’s holidays, adding that if people are negligent, there would be potential increase in COVID-19 cases.

Therefore, Dante added, the PPKM Level 1-4 must still be implemented and health protocols must continue to be implemented, supported by the PeduliLindungi application, which will monitor people’s mobility amid pandemic to avoid contact with COVID-19 patients.

On the application, there are four criteria, namely green, yellow, red, and black. The black one means the user has tested positive for COVID-19 and has close contact with other COVID-19 patients.

Until now, the application has recorded 1,625 cases with black criteria that were detected when entering malls or shopping centers. (TGH/UN) (AP/EP)

Latest News