VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Task Force for Acceleration of COVID-19 Handling highlighted the notable progress clocked in handling the pandemic in the country in the past three months.

"The number of cases has increased, but the figure is still lower than the projections. Several parties projected that the number of cases might reach hundreds to even thousands, but it did not occur until now," Head of the Task Force's expert team, Wiku Adisasmito, noted during a discussion in Jakarta on Friday.

The number of deaths caused by the virus has declined, with the mortality rate dipping, from 10 percent to five percent, while the rate of recovery has risen to almost 40 percent.

"If we see the situation now, in fact, it has been relatively under control," he asserted.

Adisasmito strongly believes that Indonesia is on the right track in terms of handling COVID-19, as public awareness of the risk of the disease has increased and implementation of health protocols has improved.

Echoing the same opinion, head of the Army Health Center (PUSKESAD) Maj. Gen Tugas Ratmono remarked that the bed occupancy (BO) rate at the Gatot Soebroto military hospital (RSPAD), a referral hospital for COVID-19 handling, for severely symptomatic COVID-19 patients had declined.

"Currently, doctors at RSPAD are not as busy as earlier. The BO (Bed Occupancy) rate was only 40 percent," he stated.

This indicates a decline in the number of cases of patients with severe symptoms at the hospital, he added. (ANTARA)