JAKARTA - Chairperson of the COVID-19 Handling Task Force Doni Monardo admitted that the government had been caught off guard when facing a surge in COVID-19 cases due to the long weekend on 16-22 August.
In mid-August, many people, especially those in big cities, go on vacation to the regions because they get joint leave in the momentum of Indonesian Independence Day.
In fact, the government also gave discounts on long-distance train tickets during the long holiday. As a result, the number of COVID-19 cases jumped up after the next one to two weeks.
"Yes, we were careless. Maybe we were not very alert for the socialization. On the third week of holiday in August, cases increased at the end of August and also the beginning of September," said Doni in a discussion at Graha BNPB, East Jakarta, Wednesday, October 21. .
The impact of the spike in cases due to the long August holiday was most pronounced in DKI Jakarta Province. Based on data from the DKI Health Office, on September 9, the occupancy of the ICU COVID-19 care bed passed the threshold, which is 83 percent.
"Until finally, the Governor of DKI, Pak Anies announced his concern over the increase in cases, including the number of ICUs in Jakarta hospitals which are expected to be full on 17 September, including changing the policy from the transition to a strict PSBB transition," said Doni.
Doni said President Joko Widodo ordered his staff to control so that the long holiday at the end of October, namely 28, 29 and 30 October, again resulted in a spike in the transmission of COVID-19.
"That's why the president has repeatedly said his concern, not to let the long holiday this time add new problems to us. We've worked hard for the last 7 months," said Doni.
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