VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Spokesperson for the COVID-19 task force, Wiku Adisasmito. (ANTARA/Dewanto Samodro)

The number of red zones, or areas with a high risk of COVID-19 transmission, declined in the past week in Indonesia, while the number of orange zones, or areas with low infection risk, increased.

The data was revealed by the national COVID-19 task force on Tuesday.

The number of high-risk districts/cities fell to 29 as of August 16, 2020 compared to a week earlier, spokesperson for the COVID-19 task force, Wiku Adisasmito, said in an online press conference at the presidential palace here on Tuesday.

He said the number of districts/cities with a moderate risk of infection rose to 237 compared to the previous week, while there was a rise in the number of low-risk areas turning into moderate risk areas.

Meanwhile, 174 districts/cities were still classified as low-risk areas or yellow zones, a decline compared to the previous week. The number of areas which saw no new COVID-19 cases in the past week, or green zones, stood at 42, while 32 districts/cities were declared free of the disease.

“It is worth noting that 18 high-risk districts/cities turned into moderate-risk zones in the past week. This is good development. However, at the same, some 49 low-risk districts/cities turned into moderate-risk zones,” Adisasmito said.

He said the number of moderate-risk zones continued to increase over the past few weeks. From July 12 to July 19 this year, the number of moderate risk zones accounted for 32.8 percent of the zones. Their prevalence increased to 35.99 percent between July 19 - 26, 2020, 43 percent between July 26 and August 2, climbed to 43.19 percent from August 2-9, and rose further to 46.11 percent from August 9-16, 2020.

The increase in the number of orange zones is worth noting, he added. (ANTARA)