VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Head of the Expert Team for the COVID-19 Task Force, Prof Wiku Adisasmito, said the number of transmission cases in eight provinces displayed a downward trend for two consecutive weeks.

"This is a positive achievement that must be maintained. The decline in cases and the decline in positivity rates indicates a decrease in transmission in the community," Wiku Adisasmito said in a report on the progress of handling COVID-19, which was monitored virtually from the BNPB YouTube, here on Tuesday.

The eight provinces are the Riau Islands, Jakarta, West Java, East Java, Banten, Bali, Maluku and North Maluku.

Wiku said that the implementation of public activity restrictions (PPKM) level 4 on 26 July to 2 August 2021 had brought about an improvement in the pandemic situation in a number of areas.

One of the indicators, Wiku noted, is a decrease in the number of daily cases, a decrease in the utilization of patient beds in hospitals and an increase in the recovery rate of COVID-19 patients.

"The government has decided to extend the period of PPKM Level 4 starting from August 3 to August 9, 2021," he said.

According to Wiku, the government's policy in handling the COVID-19 pandemic concentrates on three main pillars, namely the 3M health protocol (wearing masks, washing hands and maintaining distance), 3T efforts (testing, tracing and treatment) and vaccinations.

Wiku said that in the last two weeks, positive cases at the national level had shown a downward trend from the highest peak, which took place three weeks ago, from 350,273 to 289,029, and then fell to 273,891 patients.

"This was in line with the weekly positivity rates, which also decreased in the last two weeks, from the previous 30.72 percent to 27.38 percent and fell again to 25.18 percent," he said.

Wiku praised the public, who have been patient for four weeks while complying with health protocols.

"Looking at the results of the data, we can be optimistic that the number of positive cases and positivity rates can continue to decline in the future if local governments continue to improve the handling of COVID-19 in their regions and the community can continue to be disciplined in implementing health protocols," he said.

Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian earlier issued three extensions of instructions pertaining to Level 4 public activities restrictions (PPKM) in Java, Bali, and outside the two islands, to their respective regional heads.

The three Instructions of the Minister of Home Affairs -- number 27, number 28, and number 29 -- were issued as guidelines for regional heads in implementing the extension of PPKM on August 3-9, 2021.

Most of the restrictions, especially for areas designated as level 3 and level 4, have largely remained unchanged. Non-essential activities are required to take place virtually, while essential activities are allowed to operate up to 50 percent of the normal capacity.

Activities in the critical sector are allowed to take place 100 percent face-to-face, albeit in adherence to strict health protocols. (Antaranews)