Ministry Of Health: Homecoming Is A Test For Indonesia Leading To Endemic

ILLUSTRATION OF DOCK BETWEEN

JAKARTA - Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said that going home before Lebaran this year was a test for Indonesia to be able to direct the COVID-19 pandemic situation to become endemic.

Nadia hopes that the achievement of the booster vaccination program or the third dose is targeted at 30 percent by the end of May 2022.

He explained that the target was actually not related to the homecoming process, but the target that was compiled into a road map towards endemic.

"So why did we say that this homecoming is one of our tests? Because if we want to get to a position we call endemic, we must be consistent. Transmission remains low, positive numbers remain low, cases are also fewer, deaths are also low," he said as reported by Antara, Thursday, April 7.

Nadia said that since the relaxation related to domestic travellers, previously there had been an increase in the number of foreign travelers, while this year's homecoming added one more condition, which previously did not require a PCR or antigen test if the vaccine had been injected twice. Currently, travelers who have been vaccinated three times are free of PCR and antigen tests.

"Why? Because earlier, the number of mobility was high. Why the high mobility? Because we know earlier, the tendency to increase cases always occurs in high mobility," he said.

This was done, he said, in line with efforts to continue to suppress the transmission of COVID-19 at a certain time, so that endemic situations may occur after Ramadan and going home, so that the level of transmission can be as low as possible, so that travelers are only given education to carry out booster vaccinations.

"Actually, yesterday we were free from the second full dose, there is no need for PCR with antigen, because the number of people who are mobile we see is enough with two doses of protection. But because we imagine 80 million will mobilize, we have to increase the protection. That's why a booster vaccine We are pushing for the future," said Nadia.