Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian has said that the gradual easing in the implementation of public activity restrictions (PPKM) must be accompanied by the application of health protocols.

“This gradual easing means that we can begin to relax restrictions in some sectors by still implementing strict health protocols: wearing masks and avoiding crowds that have the potential for transmission,” he observed in a statement received Friday.

During a working visit to Jambi, Karnavian said the number of pandemic handling indicators in the province had shown a positive trend. However, he reminded the whole community not to be careless about the current conditions.

“We must not be careless, we must remain vigilant because it is very dependent on community dynamics, community mobilization, community interaction, crowds, and so on,” he explained.

Earlier, the number of transmission cases in Jambi was recorded to be high in July 2021 due to the transmission of the Delta variant of COVID-19. However, thanks to the implementation of the PPKM and good health protocols, Jambi was able to gradually reduce the transmission rate of COVID-19 cases.

The improvement in efforts to control COVID-19, Karnavian said, was also followed by an easing of restrictions in places of worship, sports venues, restaurants, and places of education.

He asked the public not to respond to the various easing of community activities recklessly, saying the public must be more prepared to implement health protocols.

The first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Indonesia in March 2020. As of September 3, 2021, according to the data from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), 4,116,890 people have been tested positive for COVID-19, 3,813,643 people have recovered, and 134,930 people have succumbed to the deadly virus.

Source: Antara News