TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo asked Central Java and Jakarta provincial administrations to pay more attention to the COVID-19 mitigation as the two regions saw a significant surge in positive cases in recent days.

“I’d like to remind that there are two provinces I think require special attention because they see a surge in cases this week; the hike is significant in the past 2-3 days. They are Central Java and Jakarta,” said the President when opening a limited meeting at Merdeka Palace, Central Jakarta, Monday, Nov. 30.

As of Sunday, Nov. 29, Central Java set a new record of daily cases with 2,036 infections, pushing the province’s total tally to 54,997. It also logged the highest active cases in Indonesia with 14,376.

Jakarta, meanwhile, recorded 1,370 new cases on Saturday, Nov. 28, the highest figure of all the capital city’s data in the past few days.

Although it was still lower than the global rate, the state head mentioned that Indonesia’s active cases hit 13.41 percent, up from the previous weekly average of 12.78 percent. “The recovery rate also dropped from 84.03 last week to 83.44 percent now. These are getting worse,” he said.

Jokowi further asked Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian to remind governors, regents, and mayors to really take full control in their respective regions, not only related to the Covid-19 problem, but also to economic problems.

"The regional heads have tasks to protect the safety of its residents and I have said this still and people's safety is the supreme law,” he said.

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EGI ADYATAMA