VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Feb. 3 - President Joko Widodo laid emphasis on the fact that no same formula existed for dealing with COVID-19, so the method to tackle the pandemic varied across countries.

"The President also conveyed that the handling of COVID-19 is different from one country to another. There is no same formula," Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto noted in his press statement while reiterating the president's affirmation at the Presidential Office in Jakarta, Wednesday.

To this end, the minister remarked that the head of state had urged Indonesia to apply the concept deemed most appropriate for Indonesia.

Drawing reference to the data on enforcement of restrictions on community activities (PPKM), Hartarto gauged that several provinces, including DKI Jakarta, Central Java, and DI Yogyakarta, had recorded improvements in connection with the handling of COVID-19.

"The 98 districts and cities are also still in the red. This is a decrease from 92 earlier. In terms of districts and cities, the figure decreased from 363 to 332. Then, there are some that remain nationally," he stated.

According to Hartarto, the PPKM data also indicated that population mobility decreased in various sectors.

"The ones with high mobility are at workplaces and in residential areas. Hence, residential areas have become a cause for concern," he explained.

The head of state then encouraged to scale up vaccination efforts, both in terms of the volume and speed of implementation.

In this way, herd immunity can quickly be realized.

"Vaccination is, of course, based on data and areas, dense zones, high-density areas, high mobility, and high interaction are also considered as activities of economic centers," he noted.

Some to be implemented in future comprise the issuance of health ministerial regulations (Permenkes) that will include rapid antigen testing for initial screening, tightening of 3M protocols, and digital tracing involving all parties, including village supervisory non-commissioned officers (Babinsa), police officers assigned to villages as advisors on security and public order (Babinkamtibmas), and the Public Order Agency (Satpol PP).

President Joko Widodo had earlier stated that the imposition of PPKM in the islands of Java and Bali had yet to successfully reduce COVID-19 infections.

The government has been struggling to win the battle against the global pandemic of the novel coronavirus disease by not only imposing the PPKM but also by conducting its national vaccination program that commenced on January 13, 2021.

As of January 26, 2021, Indonesia's COVID-19 infection rate had exceeded one million cases since President Widodo officially announced the country's first COVID-19 cases on March 2, 2020. (Antaranews)