Minister Luhut Bemoans Latest Covid-19 Surge as Collective Mistake

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs and Investments Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan attributed the latest surge in Covid-19 cases as a collective mistake committed by both the government and the general public. 

"This is our collective mistake. The government has strongly asked all of us to stay home, to not travel in the Eid al-Fitr exodus tradition, but our society did just that. What we see now is the result of it," said Luhut Pandjaitan in a virtual press conference on Tuesday, June 15, 2021. 

In the press conference, Luhut encouraged each and every leader in Indonesia to contemplate past activities and whether they have shown good examples for society. 

For the past couple of weeks, several Indonesian regions recorded an increasing number of Covid-19 cases which were mainly driven by the spread of the new mutated coronavirus with the task force claiming the increasing trend was observed in the first week after the Eid al-Fitr celebration. 

The highest increase was recorded in the most populated Indonesian island of Java with 56 percent. Cases in Java Island contributed 576 percent of the total national cases. 

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo through the Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin recently called for people to remain disciplined in implementing the correct health protocol. In response to the Covid-19 surge, the government has extended the public activity restriction enforcement (PPKM) across Indonesian provinces. 

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