President Jokowi Issues Directives on Preparation for ‘New Normal’

President Jokowi leads a Limited Meeting through video conference on preparation in the implementation of the productive and safe “new normal” scenario, at Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Wednesday (27/5). (Photo by: PR/Rahmat)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo during a virtual Limited Meeting on Wednesday (27/5) mentioned four points of note on the preparation for the productive and safe “new normal” scenario.

First, the Government as of Tuesday (26/5) has deployed personnel of the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI) and Indonesian National Police (Polri) at crowded places in 4 provinces and 25 regencies/cities.

The move is aimed at preparing the implementation of the new normal, which will be imposed depending on the R0 (basic reproductive number for COVID-19) and Rt (virus’s actual transmission rate at a given time).

“When the move is effective (to lower the infection rate), it will be expanded to other provinces and regencies/cities,” President Jokowi said.

Second, the President said he had instructed Ministry of Health to massively disseminate the prepared new normal protocols to the public. Thus, he added, the public will know what they must do in accordance with the protocol, such as keeping safe distance, wearing a face mask, frequently washing hands, and avoiding crowds.

“If the dissemination can be carried out massively, I am sure the R0 and Rt curves can be flattened,” he said adding that a number of provinces have implemented it.

Third, the new normal scenario will be tested in several provinces, regencies/cities where the R0 curve is below 1 and to specific sectors that have the possibility to follow the new normal scenario.

Fourth, in the preparation toward the new normal, President Jokowi said he had ordered his Cabinet to study the readiness of each region to handle the virus.

“For regions on the upward curve such as East Java, I have instructed the Task Force, Commander of the TNI, and Polri Chief to deploy more personnel to suppress the infection rate,” he added.

In addition, the President also called for massive sampling and intensify tracking contact of the Patients under Surveillance (PDP) and People under Monitoring (ODP), as well as conduct strict isolation.

“It has been implemented to provinces on the upward curve,” he said. (TGH/EN)

Translated by : Rany Anjany
Reviewed by: M. Ersan Pamungkas