TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Jakarta provincial government predicted a third wave of COVID-19 hitting the capital in December 2021 based on the city’s experience in dealing with the first and second waves.

“The early detection system [of COVID-19 infection] has been activated and not dropped yet until now,” said Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan in the National Monument or Monas area, Jakarta, Wednesday, September 22.

The criteria for early detection include high-standard samples testing which is 8.4 times higher than the WHO standard and tracking. “Even though our positivity rate is 0.7, the testing is still high, so we can detect if cases starting to show an increasing trend, we can instantly be at alert,” said Anies.

He appealed to the public to maintain compliance with the health protocols and ensure that families and colleagues participated in vaccinations. “The key is in the community.”

Wiku Adisasmito, a spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force, previously said that the world was hit by the third wave of COVID-19, so Indonesia needs to be vigilant by examining the pattern of rising cases in the country which tends to be slower than the world.

“In the second wave pattern, there is a three-month gap. We need to anticipate [the third wave] because in the next three months we will enter the Christmas and 2022 New Year holidays,” he said, adding that the spike in COVID-19 cases in Indonesia in July 2021 was mainly due to internal factors.

Read: Indonesia Pursues Narrowing Gap in COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution

ANTARA