COVID-19 Cases In 22 Provinces Are Rising, Task Force: This Is Not A Good Achievement

Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force Widu Adisasmito (Photo: Screenshot)

JAKARTA - Spokesperson for the Task Force for Handling COVID-19, Wiku Adisasmito, regrets that currently more provinces have experienced a weekly increase in cases compared to a decrease in cases.

Based on the analysis of the Task Force data as of November 15, from 34 provinces throughout Indonesia, 22 provinces experienced an increase in cases. Meanwhile, the remaining 12 provinces experienced a decrease in cases in the past week.

"This is very unfortunate, considering that there are still many provinces experiencing an upward rather than downward trend," Wiku said in the Presidential Secretariat Youtube broadcast, Thursday, November 19.

Wiku highlighted three provinces that experienced the most weekly increase in COVID-19 cases in Indonesia. In the first place, Central Java experienced an increase of 2,377 cases compared to last week, West Java with 875 cases, and DKI Jakarta with 793 cases.

"We remind the provinces of Central Java, West Java, and DKI Jakarta that of course this is not a good achievement. Evaluations must continue to be carried out related to the implementation of testing and treatment that has been carried out," said Wiku.

Meanwhile, Wiku also highlighted three provinces that had the least increase in cases out of 22 provinces. These provinces were North Sumatra, which experienced an increase in 15 cases, North Maluku with 13 cases, and West Nusa Tenggara with 9 cases.

In these three provinces, Wiku asked regional heads to improve the tracking and examination of COVID-19 cases in order to make early detection efforts to reduce the spread of asymptomatic cases.

"The higher the cases handled, the higher the chance of recovery. If this effort is made, then these three provinces can experience a decrease in cases in the following week," said Wiku.

Not only that, Wiku also appreciated the three provinces with the highest number of cases decreasing in the past week. The provinces are West Kalimantan with a decrease of 228 cases, East Java with a decrease of 223, and West Papua with a decrease of 142 cases.

"Thank you for trying to reduce the rate of transmission as best as possible. Stay enthusiastic and don't be late with the achievements you have made," he added.