TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The sixth Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) reminded the government to seriously deal with the spread of the coronavirus in Indonesia. He also talked about the lockdown policy carried out by a number of countries.

SBY claimed he was glad that many countries were increasingly serious and effective in handling the pandemic of the virus disease or COVID-19, considering their acts that were more focused, decisive, and real.

"Many cities in various countries, even the country, enter lockdown. By means, the residents are prohibited from leaving their homes or their activities are severely restricted," said SBY through his Facebook account, Tuesday, March 17.

According to him, the policy aimed at saving people albeit he acknowledged the fact that it was uncomfortable and there might be economic losses. "But these policies and actions must be taken. The safety of people is above all," said the former chairman of the Democratic Party.

SBY said he welcomed the government's steps to ramp up efforts to handle the coronavirus pandemic, but he underlined that the government must correct its initial steps that had been taken.

"Maybe at first, the government was over confident, underestimating [the virus contagion] and I see statements of many officials were misleading," he said.

However, SBY added, it was all over. The government's actions were now becoming more apparent so that the people would feel calm and not panic as the government took right and credible steps.

As widely reported, a total of 162 countries around the world were dealing with the novel coronavirus and its infection disease (Covid-19). Referring to the worldmeters.info page, as of Tuesday night, 194,725 people were infected, 7,894 of them dead, and 81,080 others recovered. Some countries that impose lockdowns include Italy, Denmark, Spain, France, and Malaysia.

BUDIARTI UTAMI PUTRI