Jokowi Orders His Ministers To Press Death Rates Due To COVID-19 In 8 Provinces

Illustration of Public Cemetery (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo ordered his ministers to prioritize handling COVID-19 in eight provinces in Indonesia to reduce the death rate and control the growth rate of new cases.

The eight provinces are DKI Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java, North Sumatra, South Sulawesi, South Kalimantan and Papua.

"I think the target is clear. Reduce the death rate as low as possible, increase the cure rate as high as possible, and also control the growth rate of new positive cases as quickly as possible," Jokowi said when opening a limited meeting of 'Briefing to the Committee on Economic Recovery and Handling of COVID-19. -19 'which was conducted online and broadcast on the YouTube account of the Presidential Secretariat, 27 July.

The former governor of DKI Jakarta said that the eight provinces contributed 74 percent of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia. Thus, special attention and priority is very important to do, especially in the health sector.

"In the field, if you still find test equipment, PCR machines, laboratory capacity, PPE, and hospital equipment that are not immediately resolved, immediately fix them," he said.

In addition, Jokowi also emphasized the need for implementing 3T, namely massive and more aggressive testing, tracing, and treatment accompanied by effective communication with all parties.

Previously, the addition of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia continued to increase. Based on data from the Ministry of Health as of Sunday, July 26 yesterday, there were 1,492 new confirmed positive cases of COVID-19. So that currently, the number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia has reached 98,778.

This data records that there are five provinces with the most new cases added. In the first place, DKI Jakarta became the province with an additional 384 cases and 161 patients recovered.

Furthermore, in second place is East Java with a total of 283 cases and 363 patients declared cured. Next, South Sulawesi recorded 133 positive cases of COVID-19 and the number of recovered patients reached 154 people.

Then in fourth position there is South Kalimantan which has an additional 116 cases and the number of recovered patients reaches 128 people. Finally, in fifth place is Central Java with the addition of 76 cases of COVID-19 and the number of recovered patients reaching 100 people.