Continued decline in the daily COVID-19 case count nationally until August 17, 2021, to reach 20,741 was thanks to the imposition of restrictions on community activities (PPKM), Health Ministry’s spokesperson Dr. Siti Nadia Tarmizi, M.Epid, stated.
"The number of COVID-19 patients being treated nationally is also gradually decreasing," Tarmizi noted in his statement here on Thursday.
The number of COVID-19 patients being treated nationally until August 17 decreased to 50,487, from 92,567 patients treated in isolation and intensive care rooms on July 22, 2021. In Jakarta, the number of patients treated in isolation and intensive care rooms reached 4,934 as of August 17, 2021, or about 28 percent of the total capacity of isolation and intensive care rooms reaching 17,584.
"Likewise (a decrease was recorded in the number of patients) in the provinces of Banten, West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, and East Java," according to Tarmizi.
The spokesperson added that the government along with all parties had implemented emergency PPKM, which was followed by PPKM levels 2, 3, and 4 in accordance with the development of COVID-19 cases. Based on the weekly evaluation conducted by the Health Ministry, a 17-percent decrease was recorded in the number of COVID-19 cases as compared to the previous week.
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A significant decline in cases occurred in the provinces of Jakarta, West Sumatra, and North Maluku.
Furthermore, Tarmizi remarked that last week, the government had recorded a testing rate of 3.25 per one thousand people per week. This figure was lower than that in the previous week. She lauded all provinces in Indonesia for having reached the minimum testing rate necessitated by the WHO.
"Our national positivity rate was recorded at 21.4 percent, a decrease as compared to the previous week, and we are striving to continue to reduce positivity rates while continuing to maintain other health services for the community, for instance, by continuing to track cases; conduct testing, tracing and isolation; as well as encouraging the public to comply with health protocols," she remarked.
A positivity rate of less than 10 percent was recorded in Jakarta, Riau, and Banten. Hence, she is optimistic of a decline also occurring in other provinces. Meanwhile, Tarmizi also noted that currently, no provinces had reported a Bed Occupancy Ratio (BOR) of over 80 percent. Meanwhile, the ICU Bed Occupancy Ratio of more than 80 percent was reported in North Sumatra.
Furthermore, the spokesman remarked that the death toll had decreased by about eight percent from the previous week. The mortality report is collected every week, as it provides a more precise picture and is in accordance with the WHO recommendations.
"We are optimistic of this number being a positive sign that the death rate will continue to decline in the next few weeks," she remarked.
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With the decrease in bed occupancy ratio at several hospitals, the spokesperson is also optimistic that all COVID-19 patients, with severe symptoms and requiring hospital treatment, would receive proper and standardized treatment, so that the death rate can be lowered.
"This decline can also be testament to the success of our vaccination program that the vaccines we use are able to prevent cases from becoming severe and also prevent deaths from COVID-19," she affirmed.
Another example of success is Jakarta being able to reduce the number of cases and death rates of COVID-19 at a lower level than the initial period of the PPKM implementation. Tarmizi stated that various restrictions on community activities as well as enforcement of health protocols played an important role in reducing the rate of disease transmission and also increasing response capacity for dealing with the pandemic in the province.
Massive efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic through increased testing, close contact tracing, isolation and quarantine as well as enforcement of health protocols have proven to reduce the rate of transmission of the outbreak. These efforts also ease the burden on the healthcare system in the province.
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Editor : Mahdani
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