Airlangga Says Indonesia's COVID-19 Pandemic Has Turned into Endemic
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21 December 2022 15:14 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Chairman of the COVID-19 Handling Committee Airlangga Hartarto said the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia has actually turned into endemic considering that the country’s daily case numbers have been steadily declining for almost the past year.
“Based on the WHO (World Health Organization) criteria, it’s at level one,” said Airlangga, who is also Coordinating Minister for the Economy, in a joint press conference with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo at Jakarta State Palace, Wednesday, December 21, 2022.
This statement was made after the state head delivered a signal to revoke the COVID-19 curbs policy known as PPKM at the end of this year.
“At the end of the year, we can likely declare a stop on PSBB (mass-scale social restrictions) and PPKM,” said the President at the 2022 Indonesia Economic Outlook event today.
Quoted from the Health Ministry’s official page, a pandemic is an outbreak of disease that occurs across a large region, while an endemic is an outbreak of disease that occurs within an area and that can be predicted.
At the Palace this afternoon, Jokowi explained that he is still waiting for all studies and calculations from Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, including a follow-up study from Airlangga as the committee chairman to prepare a Presidential Decree regarding stopping PPKM and other policies such as PSBB.
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