Be Careful, These 9 Provinces Are Still Experiencing An Increase In COVID-19 Cases This Week

JAKARTA - Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force, Wiku Adisaamito, said that national positive cases had indeed declined. Unfortunately, there are still 9 provinces that experienced an increase in cases.

"It is important to note that there are still 9 provinces that show an increase in weekly cases this week", said Wiku in a Youtube video broadcast by the Presidential Secretariat, Thursday, August 19.

Provinces that still recorded an increase in weekly cases were Central Java, which rose by 2,952 cases, Bali rose by 1,094 cases, West Papua rose by 667 cases, Central Kalimantan rose by 553 cases, West Sulawesi increased by 295 cases, Aceh rose by 247 cases, NTB rose by 208 cases, Maluku rose 167 cases, and Jambi increased by 41 cases.

"Of course we need to focus on these 9 provinces because it means these 9 provinces are contributors to the weekly increase in cases at the national level", said Wiku.

Wiku said that the increase in cases in these 9 provinces had an impact on the number of deaths, recoveries, active cases, BOR, and the percentage of posts formed in the region.

Wiku gave an example of the development of cases in NTB Province. Data shows, weekly positive cases in NTB still increased by 208 cases and followed by a decrease in weekly cures which decreased by 348 cures.

Weekly deaths in the province also increased by 13 deaths, and active cases as of August 15 also showed an increase of 99 active cases compared to last week.

"The increase in cases in this province has caused the BOR (bed occupancy ratio) to continue to increase, from 29.10 percent to 30.17 percent or an increase of 1.07 percent", said Wiku.

"One of the indirect causes for the increase in cases in a province is the formation and performance of posts that are not optimal in the region and this is reflected in NTB where the formation of posts is still relatively low, which is only 13.37 percent of posts formed", he continued.

From the increase in cases in several provinces, Wiku asked local governments to be consistent in reading the development data of their respective regions.

By reading the data regularly, the government and the public can anticipate an increase in cases by preparing health facilities as much as possible and handling cases as early as possible.

"If there is no improvement in the indicators mentioned, it is possible that there will be no relaxation of PPKM in the area. Or even an increase in PPKM tightening if deemed necessary", he concluded.