COVID-19 Cases Rise In 21 Regions, Public Asked To Be Alert

JAKARTA - The government asks the public to remain vigilant and implement health protocols following an increase in COVID-19 cases in 21 regions in Indonesia.

"Although the transmission trend is at level one or continues to improve, an increase in COVID-19 cases is still being detected in several districts/cities. This means that this virus is still around us," said Minister of Communications and Information Johnny G Plate, quoted by Antara, Friday, 3 December.

The Minister of Communication and Informatics appealed to the public to continue to be aware of the increase in COVID-19 cases. In addition, he emphasized that the government is currently committed to continuing to pursue the vaccination target to be achieved by the end of the year.

Some areas that have experienced a recent increase in cases include Wondama Bay in West Papua, Pekan Baru, Bengkalis, Bontang, Yogyakarta, Gunungkidul, Dumai, Bantul, Nagekeo in NTT, Cimahi, Kupang, Surakarta, Denpasar, Central Sumba, Jembrana, Manggarai, Sleman, Mojokerto, Majalengka, Karanganyar, and Trenggalek.

Of the 21 districts/cities that experienced an increase in cases, three areas experienced an increase due to community clusters, namely Dumai City, Riau (Islamic boarding school cluster), Kupang City, NTT (face-to-face learning and suspect testing), Surakarta City, Central Java (due to face-to-face learning). advance).

"We know that new clusters arise from transmission in offices, markets, schools, and prisons. Therefore, the government continues to monitor daily case developments, trace close contacts and also follow up with tests to prevent an increase in the level of the pandemic situation in Indonesia," explained Johnny.

The Minister of Communication and Information emphasized that the government will continue to monitor the situation and implement various policies that are appropriate to the level of the situation in the regions. The implementation of the policy includes efforts to encourage local governments to ensure that people continue to be disciplined in health protocols and restrain mobility during the 2021 Christmas and 2022 New Year holidays.

In addition, preparedness is also carried out on the downstream side of the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, one of which is by ensuring the availability of adequate isolation and intensive care places, including the availability of medicines, ventilators, and oxygen cylinders.

"Learning from the previous situation when there was a spike in cases, we encourage the readiness of health facilities, as well as access to drugs and health equipment for the community," said the Minister of Communication and Information.

The government also asked the public to immediately vaccinate in order to reduce the risk of serious illness if infected with the COVID-19 virus. As of December 3, 2021, more than 141 million Indonesians have received the first dose of vaccination (67.9 percent of the vaccination target) and more than 98 million of them have received the complete dose (47 percent of the vaccination target).

"Seeing this achievement, of course, there needs to be another acceleration so that more and more Indonesian people are protected by vaccines. This is our common target. Therefore, we remind people not to be picky about vaccines, all vaccines are safe and efficacious," said Johnny.