Alya Nurbaiti, Jakarta – Indonesia confirmed 1,906 additional COVID-19 cases and 117 deaths on Thursday, bringing the nation's official total to 93,657 infections and 4,576 deaths.
The new figures, however, were not announced in the typical daily press briefing aired on television and the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB)'s Youtube channel.
National COVID-19 task force spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito announced on Tuesday that the government would hold press briefings only once a week.
Instead, the government is providing daily COVID-19 updates on covid19.go.id and detailed reports on covid19.kemkes.go.id. The detailed reports, which break down the data by province, are posted the day after the initial report.
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker Bambang Soesatyo advised the government to continue broadcasting COVID-19 updates on television so that the information reached a wide audience.
"The TV can deliver news and messages related to COVID-19 to people in remote areas. Not everyone has internet access," Bambang said in a statement on Thursday, as quoted by kompas.com.
He emphasized the importance of data transparency during the COVID-19 pandemic in raising people's awareness about the danger of the virus and improving the nation's response to the crisis.
"Daily COVID-19 updates are one important aspect of COVID-19 handling. The public needs them to understand the distribution of the disease so they can take precautionary measures," he said.