The issuance of a Presidential Decree on ending the implementation of Community Activity Restriction (PPKM) still awaits studies related to the level of public immunity against viruses or sero surveys, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated.
"The file has not yet reached my desk. The decision depends on the result of a sero survey. It must be detailed. We must wait patiently to avoid any failure," the head of state noted after inaugurating the Phase I of Manggarai Station here, Monday.
If the sero survey was above 90 percent, then the increase in COVID-19 cases in other countries should not be a problem for Indonesia, as the people's immunity is already good, the president remarked.
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"As long as our sero survey is above 90 percent, it means we have good immunity. Anything from anywhere should be no problem," he emphasized.
The head of state stated that currently, the number of daily confirmed cases had fallen below one thousand, but this reduction must still be ensured whether this was caused by improved public immunity or other factors.
"We must study it first. Therefore, we will wait for the review from the Health Ministry, experts, and epidemiologists to make a correct decision later," he remarked.
The president also emphasized that the decision to stop PPKM would be made at the end of the year or at the start of the year and the outcomes of the survey and other studies were still awaited.
Earlier, he stated that the Indonesian government would possibly declare the lifting of PPKM at the end of 2022.
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The decision was taken on the basis of a downward trend in daily COVID-19 cases that continued to occur.
The recent number of daily confirmed cases showed a drastic decline as compared to the peak of the Omicron spread, which reached 64 thousand cases in a single day.
According to the president, the difficult situation of the COVID-19 pandemic was able to be handled well and be brought under control. This is because the government maintained a calm stance and made careful calculations to handle the difficult situation, he remarked.
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Editor : Mahdani
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