Supervise high community mobility ahead of Christmas, New Year: VP

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin called on local governments to oversee high mobility in the community ahead of Christmas 2021 and New Year 2022.

"We should oversee the high mobility (in the community) at this time. A decline in the transmission of COVID-19 and the easing of public activity restrictions (PPKM) can cause high mobility in the community, Vice President Amin stated while chairing a meeting at the North Sumatra Governor's official residence in Medan on Wednesday.

Amin called on all local governments and the community to exercise greater discipline in implementing health protocols and expedite the implementation of COVID-19 vaccinations.

"I want to remind all about the handling of COVID-19, especially expediting vaccination," he emphasized.

The challenge for the Indonesian nation amid the decline in the transmission of COVID-19 is the likelihood of a third wave and the new variant of Delta Plus surfacing, the vice president stated.

"Despite a decline in the number of COVID-19 cases, we are anticipating a likely third wave, he remarked.

The vice president urged the North Sumatra provincial government to increase awareness of the likelihood of transmission of the new variant of Delta Plus detected in Malaysia and Singapore.

"New variants have now spread in Europe, even as far as Malaysia and Singapore. North Sumatra is very close to Malaysia and Singapore. This should be a matter of concern," the vice president stated.

Meanwhile, the government will prohibit New Year's celebrations that could lead to large crowds of people in order to lower the likelihood of a third wave and the entry of new variants of COVID-19 into Indonesia.

Deputy Chairperson of the Committee for Handling COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery (KPC-PEN) as well as Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, stated that the government had also further pressed for using the PeduliLindung application and expedited vaccination.

"The government plans to ban New Year's celebrations that can cause large crowds of people," he noted.

The Indonesian government has continued to strengthen surveillance as a precautionary measure against coronavirus infections, the COVID-19 Handling Task Force had earlier stated.

"The central government, in collaboration with the Health Office and Education Office in each region, continues to conduct surveillance, both active and passive, as a precautionary measure against (COVID-19) cases," spokesperson for the task force, Wiku Adisasmito, remarked.

A surge in COVID-19 cases was detected in 126 districts and cities in the country based on the Health Ministry's data.

The updated data that the Ministry of Health had conveyed is already based on data collected on the safe school and safe madrasa dashboards managed by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology and the Ministry of Religious Affairs," Adisasmito stated.  (*)