Jokowi Orders Minister Of Health To Prepare Roadmap For Long-Term Handling, COVID-19 Virus Will Live Long With Us

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin/DOK ANTARA

JAKARTA - Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, revealed that President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) ordered him to make a roadmap in handling the pandemic. This is important because COVID-19 can occur for quite a long time.

"The President gave directions that in the future this virus will most likely live with us for a long time. So the President's direction, we must make a roadmap of how in the future if this virus disappears, it will take up to years", said Minister of Health Budi at an online press conference held aired on the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube, Monday, August 9th.

"How can the health protocols that we have to keep us from living a normal life carrying out economic activities but still in safer conditions", he added.

With this directive, the Ministry of Health will soon carry out a pilot project of implementing digital health protocols in six main activities, namely modern or traditional trade; office and industrial area; transportation; tourism, restaurants and hotels; religion; and education.

"His direction is to ensure that the progress that will accompany our lives in the future can be practical, digital or based on information technology, and can secure daily life", said Budi.

He explained that the application for monitoring this health protocol was Peduli Protect. "And we plan to start in several malls and cooperate with Indonesian mall associations", said the former Deputy Minister of SOEs.

In addition, this application will also be used as a means of health screening, including checking vaccinations.

"If they have been (vaccinated, ed) they will come in and get a looser protocol than those who have not been vaccinated", he said.

"So for those who have been vaccinated, for example, a table of four can remove masks but those who have not been vaccinated may have to share a table and place them in an open room. Such things will be arranged in the form of process for the six main activities I mentioned", he concluded.