President Jokowi Highlights Number of Covid-19 Deaths in Indonesia

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesian President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo expressed concern over the Covid-19 death rate in Indonesia as the number of deaths from the pandemic reached 14,044 on Monday, November 2.

“The rate of [Covid-19 deaths in Indonesia] reached 3.38 percent. That is higher than the global average of 2.5 percent,” the President said in a cabinet meeting uploaded on the Presidential Secretariat’s YouTube channel. 

"We have to pay particular attention to [this fact]," he said, noting Indonesia's Covid-19 caseload hitting 415,402 since the first cases were detected in the country on March 2, 2020.

Also read: Indonesia Highlights: Indonesian Covid-19 Cases Reach 400,000 | BPOM Yet to Greenlight Indonesia's Covid-19 Vaccines | Poll Respondents Call for Removal of Indonesian Health Minister |

However, Jokowi noted that the percentage of active Covid-19 cases in Indonesia, which currently stands at 55,792 people, is lower than average around the world.

“The percentage of active [Covid-19] cases in Indonesia stands at 13.78 percent, lower than the average rate of 25.22 percent worldwide. We should put more efforts into reducing this number even further.”

However, Jokowi noted that the rate of Covid-19 recoveries in Indonesia is improving to the point that it is above the global average.

“The Covid-19 recovery rate in Indonesia currently stands at 82.84 percent, better than the global average of 72 percent,” he said, noting the country's total number of recovered patients  reached 345,566.

DOK. covid19.go.id Cover-19 Task Force head Lieutenant General Doni Monardo in a webinar (28/10/2020)

Also read: Indonesia to Follow Global Standards for Safe Covid-19 Vaccine Distribution

Covid-19 Task Force chief Doni Monardo agreed. He said that the United States has experienced three waves of the pandemic, while European countries have undergone two.

“The percentage of [Covid-19 cases] in Indonesia went down [by 7.32 percent] from 21.1 percent last October, while they are rising around the world. The reduced number of cases means that our doctors are getting more skilled in dealing [with Covid-19].” he said.

“Those cases with mild Covid-19 symptoms have a 100 percent recovery rate. Unfortunately, the death rate rose to 2.6 percent for those who started to show moderate symptoms, 6 to 7 percent for those with major symptoms, and 67 percent for cases in the critical stage.”

Doni called on hospitals to handle Covid-19 cases as early as possible to contain the pandemic. To date, the number of global Covid-19 cases hae reached 41 million. The pandemic has killed more than 1.1 million people worldwide.

(Writers: Fitria Chusna Farisa, Haryanti Puspa Sari, Deti Mega Purnamasari | Editors: Diamanty Meiliana, Bayu Galih)

Sources:

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/11/02/15002961/jokowi-angka-kematian-covid-19-di-indonesia-masih-lebih-tinggi-dari-rerata. 

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/11/02/16124141/update-8-bulan-covid-19-ri-total-kasus-415402-bertambah-2618?page=all#page2. 

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/11/02/14264491/ketua-satgas-covid-19-kasus-aktif-di-tanah-air-menurun-dibandingkan-global.