IDI Task Force Believes Indonesia Has Entered Endemic Phase

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) task force head Zubairi Djoerban on Wednesday said that he believes Indonesia is currently entering the Covid-19 endemic phase after epidemiologists reviewed a number of positive indicators. 

“Has Indonesia entered an endemic? My answer is yes. Why? Because the positivity rate is stable, below 3 percent,” said Djoerban on June 8, Antaranews reported. “Hospital bed occupation rate and deaths have been very low.”

Zubairi, who works as a specialist in internal medicine, and a subspecialist in hematology-oncology said the current Covid-19 situation has triggered various responses from the public and sparked the question of whether Indonesia has entered the endemic stage or is still transitioning, or is already endemic but people are not aware of it.

In response, he revealed the current daily Covid-19 cases, “Currently, entering June, the number of cases in Indonesia is always below 400. This is very good. Compared to the United States which has declared an endemic, their cases are still 70 thousand cases per day."

However, he acknowledges that the low positivity rate comes with a lowered test rate across Indonesia but believes there are other factors that strengthen his endemic views. 

“That is true, but it can be corrected with the bed occupancy rate. If patients sustain bad symptoms due to Covid-19, they would eventually go to the hospital. But the fact is that hospitals are not packed. Our weekly positivity rate is also commendable,” said the IDI task force head. 

ANTARA

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