The Spike In COVID-19 Cases Is Starting To Worry, Jokowi Asks For The Prokes To Be Intensified Again

President Jokowi while leading the booster vaccine (Photo: BPMI Setpres/Kris)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has asked the ranks of the Ministers of the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet and ministerial-level officials to revise the implementation of health protocols in the midst of an increasing number of COVID-19 cases.

Jokowi said this was important in order to avoid the potential for controlling the COVID-19 situation which disrupted Indonesia's economic situation.

"We need to echo the implementation of the health protocol. This is important because we don't want controlling COVID-19 to disrupt our economy," said Jokowi during a Limited Meeting (Ratas) on the Evaluation of the Implementation of Restrictions on Community Activities (PPKM) at the Merdeka Palace, Monday, July 4.

The President said that the Ratas needed to discuss further efforts to handle the surge in COVID-19 cases due to the entry of the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants in Indonesia which are predicted to occur in the second or third week of July 2022.

"We will again evaluate the PPKM policy. We know that as of July 3, there were 1,614 cases and it is predicted that the peak of cases will be in July, in the second or third week," he said.

One of the things that President Jokowi emphasized is efforts to encourage the implementation of a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccination for the community, which so far has only reached 24.5 percent.

In particular, the President asked the National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, the TNI Commander General Muhammad Andika Perkasa, the Ministry of Health, and the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) to continue to encourage the implementation of booster vaccinations.

"Especially, in cities that have a high level of interaction between people," he said.

The meeting was also attended by Vice President KH Ma'ruf Amin, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, National Police Chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo, TNI Commander Andika Perkasa, and BNPB Head Lt. Gen. TNI. Suharyanto,

Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Minister of State Secretary Pratikno, Minister of SOEs Erick Thohir, Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning (ATR)/Head of the National Land Agency (BPN) Hadi Tjahjanto, Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi, and Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung.