Minister Of Health Continues To Monitor Regions That Have Started Rising COVID-19 Cases

Photo: BPMI Setpres/Rusman

JAKARTA - The trend of increasing cases of COVID-19 is reported to have started to surge in several countries. This is a signal for the world, including Indonesia, to increase vigilance at the entrances of countries by land, sea, and air, especially ahead of the Christmas and New Year's 2022 holidays.

"We study all cases in foreign countries and monitor them closely and report them to the President. We are also observing the pandemic situation in all regencies/cities in Indonesia, everything is still good so we don't need to worry but we monitor those who have potential increases", said Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Friday, November 27.

From the observations, it was reported that a total of 19 districts/cities experienced an increase in cases with different lengths of time.

In two regions, namely Fak-Fak and Purbalingga, in a period of 4 consecutive weeks there was an increase in confirmed cases. Then there is North Lampung, which has increased for 3 consecutive weeks, and 16 cities, which have increased for two weeks.

Although the percentage is small, monitoring continues to prevent an explosion of cases.

"Although the numbers are still small, the positivity rate and hospital BOR are still low, but we follow these areas so that we don't be late if there is an increase", he explained.

According to the Minister of Health, one of the reasons for this increase was the decline in testing and tracing capabilities for close contacts of confirmed cases as well as reduced public awareness of implementing the 5M program.

“We also pay attention to what cities need to be improved, namely tracing and testing. Testing should be carried out on close contacts as a result of tracing. We see cities that have increased, the discipline for tracing and testing is very low, "explained the Minister of Health.

The Minister of Health asked regional heads to strengthen 3T (Testing, Tracing, and Treatment), enforce 5M health protocols and boost vaccination coverage, especially for groups vulnerable to COVID-19.

Regarding vaccination, as of November 26, 2021, the government has injected 231.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, with details of 137.5 million people receiving the first dose, 93.1 million people have received the second dose and 1.2 million health workers have received the third dose of vaccine (booster).

In the last 3 weeks, the vaccination rate has decreased. This is partly due to the public's fear of using available vaccines, especially vaccines with mRNA platforms.

The Minister of Health asked the public to immediately vaccinate against COVID-19. There is no need to doubt the existing vaccines. No need to choose a vaccine brand, use the vaccine that is available first at this time. The government guarantees that the vaccines given to the public are safe, quality, and efficacious.

"Don't worry about this vaccine being proven safe, don't let what happened in Europe happen in Indonesia", he concluded.