TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko on Thursday explained the reason President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo intends to end the coronavirus social restriction, known as PPKM, at the end of this year. He mentioned the government’s understanding that Covid-19 is no longer as lethal as it initially was in the early phases of the pandemic.

“Covid-10 is deadly to some, that was one of the considerations. But covid is no longer a significant threat in the context of its mortality. So, everything must be viewed in its entirety,” said Moeldoko in Central Jakarta on December 22.

Despite not being considered deadly as it was, Moeldoko recalled that Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin had asked for the plan to conduct a deeper study. Therefore, the Health Ministry will evaluate the plan before announcing the end of the PPKM.

“The Health Minister has asked for more time. We’ll see what it would be like at the end of the year. Hopefully, it could be announced early next year,” said the former National Armed Forces (TNI) commander.

As previously reported, President Jokowi at the Indonesian Economic Outlook 2022 event on Wednesday hinted at revoking the coronavirus social restriction known as the PPKM and PSBB policies. He believes the pandemic restriction could no longer take effect as daily cases continue to stagnate.

“Likely at the end of the year we can declare a stop on the PSBB (mass-scale social restriction) and PPKM,” said the President on December 21.

During the event, the President’s speech also touched on the matter where he refused to implement a total lockdown, going against advice from state ministers and the general public. At the time the Delta variant was detected in Indonesia, the country logged 56,000 daily cases.

“At the time I remember nearly 80 percent of State Ministers, and the public, suggested imposing a lockdown,” he recalled.

Jokowi said during the economic event that the social restriction might not be as lax as it is today if he tended towards imposing a total lockdown. “If we did it at the time, it would be a different story today,” the president remarked.

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH