Ahead Of Christmas And New Year, President Asks Everyone To Beware Of The Delta Variant's Children And Grandchildren

Illustration UNSPLASH

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) reminded all parties to be aware of the spread of COVID-19 in the country ahead of Christmas 2021 and New Year 2022.

This was conveyed by the Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin after attending a limited cabinet meeting (ratas) regarding the evaluation of PPKM.

"The President's direction is that we must be careful and vigilant, especially in facing this Christmas and New Year," said Minister of Health Budi in a press conference broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube, Monday, November 22.

He said caution was needed after seeing the condition of the spread of COVID-19 in the world, especially in Europe, which was currently increasing. This increase, continued Budi, occurred because the Delta variant continued to experience mutations.

"Earlier at the Ratas, we first conveyed the condition of the global pandemic, so we know that in Europe, almost all of the confirmed cases have gone up," said the former Deputy Minister of SOEs.

"We report that in Europe the increase was almost entirely due to the Delta variant or its offspring the Delta variant or its grandson the Delta variant," added Budi.

The movement of additional cases in other parts of the world is also continuously monitored by the government. However, the result is that a number of countries that have previously been affected by the Delta variant are still sloping in the number of positive cases.

"For example, India, which once had its peak hit by the Delta, is now still sloping after 195 days. Also, South Africa has been hit by the Delta, now it has been sloping for 134 days, Indonesia for 124 days, Morocco for 101 days, and Japan for 86 days," explained Budi.

However, from a number of these countries there is still an increase in cases, namely Sri Lanka. "Well, we study all movements or cases in foreign countries closely, we monitor them closely, and we report them to the President so that we remain vigilant, especially during this New Year's Christmas," he concluded.