President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has urged all regional heads across Indonesia to be vigilant to the slightest increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in their respective regions.

At the Merdeka Palace, Monday, he delivered the directive to the governors, commanders of the regional military command, and heads of the regional police through a virtual meeting.

“We have to strengthen tracing, tracking, and testing attempts by examining people, who have come in close contact with the patients,” he stated as quoted from the press release of the Press Bureau of the Presidential Secretariat here on Tuesday.

The briefing was a follow-up, as several regions had experienced a slight increase in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases.

A spike was observed three weeks ago in North Maluku Province, while it occurred two weeks back in the provinces of West Papua, West Sulawesi, and North Sulawesi.

A surge in cases was also recorded in Gorontalo, West Kalimantan, and Southeast Sulawesi last week.

“In addition, 105 districts and cities in 30 provinces experienced a rise in COVID-19 cases. Although the number is small, we have to remain vigilant,” Jokowi emphasized.

The president also encouraged all parties to optimize the use of the PeduliLindungi app, especially at shopping centers, tourist attractions, and markets.

Furthermore, Jokowi admitted to having observed that several reopened public places did not yet have in place any PeduliLindungi quick response code system.

“Regarding the problem, we have to improve the supervision of tourist attractions, malls, and other public places,” he stated.

As of Monday, 460 additional confirmed cases were reported, thereby bringing the total count of active cases across Indonesia to 13,554.

Meanwhile, the government had administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccination to over 113 million people, the second dose to over 68 million people, and the third dose to over 1.1 million people.

Source: Antara News