Indonesia Implements A Total Football System During Wars With COVID-19

President Jokowi (Photo: BPMI Setpres/Lukas)

JAKARTA - Indonesia used a typical Dutch style of football in the Johan Cruijff era, total football when dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

President Jokowi used this term referring to the total participation of almost all elements of the government in efforts to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. He conveyed this when opening the National Coordination Meeting (Rakornas) of Regional Heads and Forkompimda 2023, at Sentul International Convention Center, Bogor, West Java, Tuesday 17 January.

"Ask other countries, will there be any handling of our total? We really had total football at that time. Lintang-panting, everyone ran here and there because we wanted COVID-19 to be able to be resolved," said Jokowi, which was broadcast live on the official YouTube channel of the Presidential Secretariat.

The President expressed his appreciation to all regional heads who attended the event, for their hard work in efforts to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Alhamdulillah, we can manage the pandemic and control it well, and we can manage economic stability, we maintain it so that it is in a very good position. This is thanks to the hard work of all of us," said Jokowi.

The Head of State then invited the participants to remember all the difficulties and challenges that must be faced by all elements of government levels at the beginning and during the surge in the COVID-19 pandemic.

All the good difficulties in the form of the need to fulfill personal protective equipment (PPE), masks, oxygen cylinders, and the provision of vaccines called Jokowi are able to be resolved thanks to joint performance.

Especially for vaccination, the President appreciated the participation of regional heads and even the level of neighborhood units (RT), as well as the active contribution of elements of the TNI-Polri that could make 448 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been injected into Indonesian people to date.

"Imagine that 448 million injections are not easy stuff, but because the TNI also participates, the Police also participate, all governors, regents, mayors, all of them go to the RT level. That's what causes us to be able to finish COVID well," said Jokowi.

It was the participation of all elements of the government that Jokowi referred to as his total football handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Because like the total football strategy, which is famous for Johan Cruijff, all players must be able to fill the role of their colleagues in an effort to attack and win football matches.

The handling of the pandemic in Indonesia is relatively successful, even admitted by the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on several occasions.