COVID-19 Cases Crawling Up, Vice President Asks People To Vaccinate

Screenshot - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin

Vice President (Vice President) Ma'ruf Amin invites the public to take part in efforts to mitigate COVID-19 cases during the Christmas and New Year holidays by accessing vaccination services.

"The important thing is vaccination. What has not been vaccinated to create immunity," said Ma'ruf Amin as quoted by ANTARA, Monday, December 18.

Ma'ruf ensured that there had been no aggressive steps by the government in mitigating the transmission of COVID-19 in Indonesia, because the number of cases was still relatively low when compared to the current global situation.

The vice president advised the public to return to using masks in crowded places to protect breathing from the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

"The government is doing that again, we have started monitoring it now and in certain places it has started wearing masks," he said.

Ma'ruf said the government continues to monitor the development of COVID-19 cases in the country and globally, which is now increasing again ahead of Christmas and New Year celebrations.

For this reason, said the Vice President, the use of masks as a form of health protocol (prokes) needs to be re-implemented by the community in certain places that allow the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19.

The Ministry of Health's Emerging Infection page reported weekly cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia as of December 17, 2023 at 16.00 WIB, reaching 216 confirmed cases, 128 of which have recovered, one case has died, and 2,070 active cases.

The World Health Organization (WHO) provides a level 1 standard pandemic situation in a country with an indicator of at least 20 cases per week, per 100,000 population. If adjusted to the situation in Indonesia, the WHO level 1 standard ranges from 7,800 per day.

Ma'ruf said the government's policy in responding to the COVID-19 situation was based on the consideration of the rate of cases that occurred in the country.

"Furthermore, there are no steps. Later, I think if it has grown, we will hold a limited meeting which will discuss in detail the COVID-19 issue," he said.