The COVID-19 Pandemic Will Not Disappear Quickly, Minister Of Health Budi: It Could Be Up To 10 Years

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JAKARTA - Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, said the COVID-19 pandemic that had spread for 18 months in the country would not go away quickly. In fact, it may soon turn into an epidemic for the next few years.

"This pandemic will not go away quickly, it may turn into an epidemic and we are still living with them for 5 years, it could be 10 years or more", he said in a virtual press conference, Monday, August 16.

Therefore, said Budi, the government's focus is not to immediately eliminate the pandemic but how to control the pandemic by ensuring that the transmission rate is always below the capacity of Indonesian health services.

To be able to control the rate of transmission, Budi said, the government would carry out a transformation in the health sector to prepare for a pandemic for a long time. The government will also strengthen with three strategies to reduce the rate of transmission of COVID-19.

"First, we have to change behavior or health protocols, often also called 3M. We also have a second strategy, we have to do good detection, namely testing, tracking, and isolation", he said.

The government, continued Budi, will focus on tightening 3T and 3M. He said that by testing as much as possible, people who were confirmed positive for COVID-19 could be detected more quickly and get treatment.

"Therefore, people who are detected as positive, if we know, we can isolate so we can reduce the rate of transmission. Everything is aimed at reducing the rate of transmission", he explained.

Then, said Budi, the third strategy is vaccination. From January to July 2021, Indonesia has received 90 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Then, in August 2021, Indonesia will receive another 70 million doses.

Furthermore, in September will return the arrival of 80 million doses. Thus, Budi believes he can meet the vaccine needs of 208 million Indonesians.

"So we know that our vaccination activities will be much higher, heavier in these months, compared to the first seven months", he said.