Jakarta (ANTARA) - Executive Board of the Indonesian Medical Association's (IDI's) COVID-19 task force head Erlina Burhan stated that Indonesia is on the right track in its endeavors to enter the COVID-19 endemic stage.
"According to statistics, it is a (matter of) pride for the Indonesian nation that Indonesia is one of the countries with the best (COVID-19) handling measures as it has been proven that (Indonesia's COVID-19 cases) are under control as compared to other countries. Indonesia is indeed on the right track," Burhan stated during the "Why COVID-19 Booster Vaccine Remain a Necessity" talk show broadcast by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) YouTube channel, as observed here, Monday.
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Burhan, who is also part of the department of pulmonology and respiratory medicine of the University of Indonesia's faculty of medicine, said the World Health Organization (WHO) had recently announced that the COVID-19 endemic stage would be achieved soon.
She pointed out that a steady decline in COVID-19 cases and casualties and the high COVID-10 vaccination rate are requisites before declaring that the country has entered a stage of endemicity.
"The most important aspect is that residents have the collective immunity (to tackle) the virus that could be obtained through vaccination," the task force head noted.
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The number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia had drastically declined as compared to the situation in July 2021 during the surge in the number of the COVID-19 Delta variant infection cases, with daily casualties peaking at two thousand, Burhan remarked.
"During the surge in cases of the Omicron variant with milder symptoms and lower severity than the Delta variant, the death rate was lower. The current casualty rate is even at the low of 20 people daily," she pointed out.
The WHO's projection of the end of the pandemic stage should be bolstered by efforts to maintain health protocol and vaccination levels, she stated.
"If we could do all that, we are hopeful that Indonesia would move forward to the endemic stage," Burhan remarked.
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