The Rules For Handling COVID-19 Often Change, Jokowi: That's What We Have To Do

President Jokowi and Vice President Ma'ruf Amin attend the annual session (photo: documentation of the MPR/DPR/DPD Annual Session)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said policies for handling COVID-19 often change. However, this is done because the pandemic has taught the government to gas and brake between health and economic interests.

"The pandemic has taught us to find a balance point between gas and brakes, a balance between the interests of health and the economy," Jokowi said in a state speech at the Annual Session of the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly and the Joint Session of the DPR RI-DPD RI in 2021 which was broadcast online, Monday, August 16.

He said the government always refers to the latest data, science and technology in making decisions regarding the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Jokowi ensured that the goals and directions of government policies to deal with these health problems were consistently carried out even though the implementation was dynamic according to the existing problems.

Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic can mutate rapidly so that the handling must change according to the existing challenges.

"The tightening and easing of community mobility, for example, must be carried out at the latest every week, by referring to the latest data," said the former governor of DKI Jakarta.

"Maybe this is often read as a policy that changes or is often read as an inconsistent policy. That is precisely what we must do to find the best combination between the interests of health and the interests of the economy of the community," he concluded.