Jokowi Admits COVID-19 Delta Variant Entered Indonesia Unpredictably

President Joko Widodo (Photo: RI Cabinet Secretariat)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo told how the spike in COVID-19 cases could occur. He said, from the beginning of the year to the fifth month, the transmission of the corona virus had begun to decline.

He conveyed this in front of recipients of the presidential assistance for productive micro enterprises (BPUM) at the State Palace, Central Jakarta, Friday, July 30.

"Back in January, February, March, April, May, the condition of the COVID-19, the corona has started to go down. If the corona goes down, the economy will definitely go up. You can see that in fact," Jokowi said in the Presidential Secretariat's Youtube show, Friday, July 30.

Unfortunately, Jokowi did not predict that the Delta-type virus variant, which is already widespread in India, would also enter Indonesia. This resulted in cases soaring and the economy weak again.

"Unpredictably, a Delta variant appears, a new type of corona. It appears in all countries in the world, so that the global economy is the same for us. This delta virus appears as well. Immediately, positive cases have increased drastically," Jokowi explained. .

Therefore, the government decided to withdraw the emergency brake by implementing the Emergency PPKM as a tightening of restrictions on community activities. Now, said Jokowi, the tightening has paid off, namely COVID-19 cases are starting to decline slowly. This can be seen from the occupancy of the COVID-19 Emergency Hospital Wisma Atlet Kemayoran.

"I also checked this morning at Wisma Atlet, for example. Previously, it was almost 90 percent, this morning I checked the bed occupancy rate at 38 percent. ," he said.

However, Jokowi admits that cases outside Java have actually increased. "Outside Java, the turn goes up. This is indeed, the transmission of the Delta variant is very fast. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, all of you have to work even harder, be resilient. I will tell you what it is. It's not scary. This corona virus will end when ? WHO can't even predict it, "he concluded.