TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Tuesday announced the gradual lifting of the public activity restriction (emergency PPKM) starting on July 26, which he claims is based on the Covid-19 curve that has begun to flatten following stricter restrictions.

The emergency PPKM enacted on July 3 was initially slated to be lifted today on July 20 but has been extended for another five days as the President announced.

“Alhamdulillah, after the enforcement of the emergency PPKM the data suggests new cases and hospital bed occupancy rate are dropping,” said the President in a video announcement on July 20.

However, citing the official daily Covid-19 data made public by the Indonesian Covid-19 handling and national economic recovery committee, the President’s claim is not entirely mistaken but it is important to note that the dropping cases aligns with the less number of specimens tested.

Tempo dissected the official logbook and found the dropping number of cases reported for the past three days was possible after testing no more than 200 thousand specimens.

The specimens tested for Covid-19 on July 18 was 192,918 while July 19 saw 160,686, and July 20 logged 179,275 which resulted in daily cases dropping below 40 thousand. This is quite the opposite to the number of specimens tested during the period that saw daily Covid-19 cases reach 50 thousand from July 14 - July 17.

The following is the data cited from the official government source.

Tuesday, July 13

Confirmed cases: 47,899

Specimens tested: 227,083

Wednesday, July 14

Confirmed cases: 54,517

Specimens tested: 240,724

Thursday, July 15

Confirmed cases: 56,757

Specimens: 249,059

Friday, July 16

Confirmed cases: 54,000

Specimens tested: 258,532

Saturday, July 17

Confirmed cases: 51,952

Specimens tested: 251,392

Sunday, July 18

Confirmed cases: 44,721

Specimens tested: 192,918

Monday July 19

Confirmed cases: 34,257

Specimens tested: 160,686

Tuesday, July 20

Confirmed Covid-19 cases: 38,325

Specimens tested: 179,275

ZACHARIAS WURAGIL