Minister Of Home Affairs To The Community: Don't Act Like The Pandemic Is Over

Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian (Photo via Ministry of Home Affairs)

JAKARTA - Life in Indonesia is starting to stretch again. The streets are jammed to the malls that are starting to get busy -- judging by the difficulty of getting parking.

The Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Tito Karnavian has warned the public not to assume the COVID-19 pandemic is gone and ignore the implementation of health protocols (prokes).

"Don't come back immediately like there was no pandemic. We have to be aware of this," Tito said after a dialogue with the Governor of Yogyakarta, Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X, and the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY) Regional Apparatus Organization (OPD) ranks at Gedhong Pracimosono, Kepatihan Complex, Yogyakarta, Monday, October 1.

According to him, vigilance while maintaining health and reducing mobility is needed so that cases of COVID-19 transmission do not spike again during the 2021 Christmas and 2022 New Year holidays.

According to him, the momentum of the long holiday in December 2020 and the New Year 2021, many community activities have created clusters.

"We don't want to make the same mistake," said the former National Police Chief, quoted from Antara.

He acknowledged that the addition of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia was in a low category compared to cases occurring on an international scale.

On the other hand, according to him, there are a number of countries where the number of additional cases is in the high category, some are even very high.

"The United States is still 'high', Britain is (in the category) 'high'. Currently, Indonesia is showing (in the category of) 'low'," said Tito.

According to him, Indonesia as a country with a population of hundreds of millions has extraordinary achievements in suppressing COVID-19 cases. According to him, not many countries in Asia have a low number of additional cases of coronavirus.

"In Asia, the only 'low' country is Indonesia. Now, this success should not make us euphoric," he said.

Nevertheless, Tito said that the opening of public mobility must still be carried out in stages. On the other hand, he again asked the public not to lose control of their activities freely during the coming year-end holidays.