Emergency PPKM Relaxation Plan; Govt Urged to Use Valid Data

"The claim that the number of cases has decreased while the number of tests has also decreased, in my opinion, is problematic. Of course, if tests are lowered, cases will decrease," said Yanuar, who was also a former Deputy Chief of Presidential Staff (KSP), in an online discussion, Thursday, July 22, 2021.

He said he did not want to discredit the government. However, Yanuar reminded that the government should decide policies based on rigorously tested data. 

"The policies taken must be based on evidence, but if the evidence is trivial, then it needs further studies," he said.

It is known that the number of Covid-19 tests in Indonesia has decreased recently. On July 18, the number of people being tested fell to 138,046, complementing the decrease of daily cases to 44,721. This trend continued until July 21, when the number of testing was 116,232 people, the number of cases was 33,772.

President Joko Widodo or Jokowi said that the government would relax the Emergency PPKM policy on July 26, 2021, if the trend of Covid-19 cases continued to decline.

"The government will monitor the dynamics on the field and listen to the voices of the people affected by PPKM. If the trend of cases continues to decline, then on July 26, 2021, the government will apply a gradual opening [of businesses]," said President Jokowi in an online press conference, Tuesday, July 20.

Read: Lapor Covid-19: Many Offices Violate Health Orders during Emergency PPKM

Dewi Nurita | Maudey K. Setyakusuma