TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The COVID-19 Mitigation Task Force revealed that the public compliance rate with the face mask policy was only 59.32 percent.

“It is lamentable that the trend in individual compliance with mask policy, as well as physical distancing rules, continues to show a decline,” said the task force spokesman Wiku Adisasmito on Thursday, December 3.

The rate was based on the data collection carried out during the long holiday from October 28 to November 1, 2020. The rate keeps dropping until November 27, Wiku said. “While the compliance rate with physical distancing rules is 43.46 percent,” he added.

The task force concluded that the long holiday was the main driver of the dropping public compliance rate with the health protocols. Wiku outlined that most of the people did not abide by the face mask-wearing policy in restaurants and cafes up to 30.8 percent, followed by homes at 21 percent, public sports venues at 18.8 percent, public roads at 14 percent, and tourist sites at 13.9 percent.

Based on the zoning map for the public adherence to the health protocols, only less than 9 percent of the total 512 regencies or cities comply with the face mask policy and less than 4 percent of them were obedient in maintaining physical distancing policy.

“As I have conveyed a few months ago, the study by Yilmazkuday in 2020 shows that to reduce the number of positive and death cases, 75 percent of the population must obey wearing masks,” Wiku underlined.

The COVID-19 Mitigation Task Force on December 3 announced that Indonesia hit a new record in coronavirus daily cases with 8,369 new infections. The country’s total tally hit 557,877, with 77,696 active cases or 13.9 percent, 462,553 recoveries or 82.9 percent, 17,355 deaths or 3.11 percent.

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ANTARA