COVID-19 Task Force: Jakarta-Kepri Experience Increase In Cases In A Month

JAKARTA - The COVID-19 Task Force revealed that two provinces, namely DKI Jakarta and Riau Islands, experienced an increase in cases per week in one month.

The National Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, Wiku Adi Sasmito, said the two provinces contributed to the increase in national cases, from 1,215 to 1,409 cases per week.

"This is contributed by two provinces which have experienced an increase in weekly cases for four consecutive weeks. The provinces are DKI Jakarta and Riau Islands," said Wiku, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, January 4.

Wiku explained that in DKI Jakarta, positive cases continued to increase from 212 to 254, then increased again to 348 and finally reached 526 cases.

Meanwhile, the Riau Islands increased quite sharply from the initial two cases, increased to 93 cases, increased again to 140, and finally reached 168 cases.

Wiku emphasized that the increase in cases for the fourth week in a row when cases in other provinces continued to decline, as well as low national positive cases, showed alarm that needed to be followed up immediately.

He said the key to preventing a spike in cases as stated in the release of the World Health Organization (WHO) during the second spike amid the existence of the Delta variant, one of which was timing.

According to Wiku, the spike in cases can only be prevented by responding to case control as early as possible.

"The governors of DKI Jakarta and the Riau Islands will immediately follow up on this in the next two weeks," he said.

In addition, Wiku asked the Regional Government to ensure that the Task Force for Command Posts at public facilities and at the village or sub-district level had been formed and fully functioning, so that health protocol supervision could be carried out optimally.

Furthermore, preventing imported cases that have already entered an area so as not to cause a spike in cases due to transmission, or transmission in the community.

"This should be a concern so that we can maximize control efforts according to the current conditions in the field," said Wiku.