Denies Daily Cases Of COVID Decreasing Due To Less Testing, Deputy Governor Riza: In Jakarta 20 Times WHO Standards

Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta, Ahmad Riza Patria (Photo: Diah Ayu/VOI)

JAKARTA - Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta, Ahmad Riza Patria, said the number of new COVID-19 cases in Jakarta per day in the last few days began to decline.

During the past week, daily cases in DKI were less than 10 thousand. This is different from before the implementation of Emergency Restrictions on Community Activities (PPKM) which increased by more than 10 thousand per day. Along with that, it turns out that the number of residents undergoing PCR tests has also decreased in the past week.

Since July 11, the number of PCR tests has always been at 42 thousand to 56 thousand per day. However, starting on July 19, only 28 thousand people were tested until now the number of tests is around 30 thousand. However, Riza denied the decline in cases due to a decrease in the number of specimens examined.

"The decline in the number of cases is not due to reduced testing. In fact, testing in DKI Jakarta is very high, the data is 207,339 a week. That means it is more than 20 times the standard requested by WHO", said Riza at DKI City Hall, Central Jakarta, Friday, 23 July.

Riza said daily cases in the capital city could begin to decline due to the success of the Emergency PPKM which limited people's mobility to stay at home.

"If there is a decrease, it is because of our successful efforts related to Emergency PPKM. For that, we ask the community to maintain and improve health protocols", he said.

This isolation effort, he said, was carried out solely for the benefit of public health. Currently, the government is also continuing to increase testing, tracing, and treatment (3T) efforts. Then, the public is also asked to comply with health protocols.

"There is no choice, we have to block upstream, which is to stay at home, carry out the 5M health protocol, then be responsible for the PPKM Emergency. That's all we have to do from the community", he explained.