Epidemiologist Says Handling Of COVID-19 In Indonesia Continues To Improve

ILLUSTRA TION / VOI

JAKARTA - Epidemiology Faculty of Public Health, University of Indonesia (UI) Iwan Ariawan said the handling of COVID-19 in Indonesia continues to improve.

Iwan said there were 15 provinces with zero deaths as of Saturday, October 9. The provinces are North Sumatra, Jambi, Bengkulu, Lampung, Bangka Belitung, Banten, North Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Gorontalo, West Sulawesi, Maluku, North Maluku, Papua and West Papua.

In addition, the recent addition of positive cases of COVID-19 has been in the thousands. As of Saturday, October 9, 2021, positive cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia increased by 1,167.

Meanwhile, as of Friday, October 8, the number of positive COVID-19 cases increased by 1,384 patients. This condition is also considered to prove that the handling of COVID-19 in Indonesia is good.

"Zero deaths means that the number of new COVID-19 cases in the population is low and the handling of cases is good. In general, it can be said that the COVID-19 outbreak in Indonesia is under control," said Iwan.

According to Iwan, the increase in COVID-19 cases in several Asian countries could have an impact on the risk of an increase in cases in the country, if Indonesia does not strictly maintain international borders. He considered that Indonesia needed to do that, so that no COVID-19 cases from other countries entered the country.

"Although the COVID-19 outbreak in Indonesia is under control, in which case cases can be kept low for approximately one month, the risk of a spike in cases is still there if we are not careful," he asserted.

Iwan reminded that the control of the current COVID-19 outbreak is due to controlling mobility and population activities, implementing health protocols, increasing case tracking and close contacts and vaccinations.