Jakarta – President Joko Widodo reminded staff and the public to remain vigilant, so that Indonesia would not experience a second wave of COVID-19 like countries in Europe.
"Be careful, because in Europe there has been a second wave, where [COVID-19] cases have increased drastically. So, don't be careless, don't let down your guard, so that this incident [second wave] will not occur in our country," Jokowi said during a Cabinet session at the Presidential Palace in Central Jakarta on Monday.
According to him, as of Nov. 1, 13.78 percent of all COVID-19 cases in Indonesia are active cases, which compares to a global average of 25.22 percent.
"We have 13.78 percent active cases, the world's average is 25.22 percent of active cases. This must be suppressed, so that we can keep cutting the 13.78 percent figure," he said as quoted by tribunnews.com.
Previously, the national COVID-19 task force's spokesperson and expert team coordinator, Wiku Adisasmito, said Indonesia had seen a significant decrease in active COVID-19 cases compared with March, when the pandemic first hit the country.
Wiku explained that 91.26 percent of confirmed cases were active in March and that this percentage had decreased to 81.57 percent in April and 71.35 percent in May, before dropping to 23.74 percent last month. Active cases are the number of confirmed cases minus the number of recoveries and deaths. The statistic represents the number of cases still considered to be infectious.
Meanwhile, the recovery rate in Indonesia is also getting better."We are now at 82.84 percent, the world average is at 72 percent. So our recovery rate is also better. This must be improved," Jokowi said.
However, he noted that Indonesia's death rate was above the world average. "We are still at 3.38 percent, the world average is 2.5 percent. This deserves our attention," said Jokowi.
"We must remain focused on managing [COVID-19] and maintaining a balance between handling public health and the economic recovery. I think I have conveyed this dozens of times, but I need to emphasize this once again," said Jokowi.
Meanwhile, Jokowi also revealed that Indonesia's economy in the third quarter contracted by around 3 percent.
This figure marks an improvement from the second quarter, which saw a year-on-year contraction of 5.32 percent.
"So, in the third quarter, there may be a minus of 3 percent, and that is an improving trend, a positive trend."
According to him, continuing the positive trend into the fourth quarter is very important. Therefore, he requested that government spending in the fourth quarter be maximized.
"This fourth quarter is very important in order to improve even more, and if we can turn it into positive [growth], that will be great."
"I hope the realization of our spending will be at its maximum," he said.
"It is our duty to strengthen demand, so that consumption will improve," he concluded.
Jokowi also reminded ministries and agencies to continue to maintain spending realization in the first quarter of 2021 to boost growth. (iwa)