Indonesia Plans to Resume Economic Activity in Phases from September, Says Senior Minister

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia plans to reopen its economic activity in phases from September but it will be depending on the results of the country’s preventive measures to curb Covid-19 transmission, a senior minister said.

This announcement came after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo extended the Covid-19 level 4 restriction on public activities to August 9.

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said that efforts to mitigate the pandemic comprising 3T procedures (tracing, testing, and treatment), and 3M protocols (mask-wearing, hand-washing, and social distancing) play a vital role to contain the spread of the Covid-19.

“[The plan] of reopening the economic activity will depend on how the Covid-19 jab drive, the implementation of 3T procedures, and 3M protocols will work,” Luhut told a virtual press conference on Monday, August 2.

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Luhut, who is also the coordinator of the program for Covid-19 level 4 restriction on public activities in Java and Bali, said that the President has instructed all relevant parties to implement the mass vaccination program, the 3T procedures, and 3M protocols to maximum efforts to control the Covid-19 cases and reopen the economic activity in phases.

“We have been instructed to carry out these steps as detail as possible so that the [economic activity] can be reopened in stages from September. It will depend on the weekly progress as some activities may start to resume gradually,” he said.

As for the Covid-19 mass vaccination program, Luhut has targeted to administer 70 million doses in August or an average of two million doses per day. He gave assurance that the number of the vaccine supply is sufficient as 258 million doses will be available until December this year.

“In August we hope to administer 60-70 million people and we hope it will be repeated in September,” he said.

Also read: Govt Can’t Overcome Covid Alone, Jokowi Says

Besides the implementation of 3T procedures and 3M protocols, the government has set a target of conducting contact tracing to 10 people who have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19. This program is currently done by members of the Indonesian military and police.

Luhut reiterated that the government can’t work alone without the involvement of the public. Therefore, he called on the people to be on alert and follow the Covid-19 health protocols.
“We must act together to fight against the Covid-19 by maintaining health protocols,” he said.

As of Tuesday, August 3, Indonesia recorded 33,900 new confirmed cases, bringing the total number of infections nationwide to 3,496,700 since the first two cases were announced in March 2020. Meanwhile, the number of Covid-19 deaths reached 1,598, bringing the total deaths to 98,889.

(Writer: Yohana Artha Uly | Editor: Erlangga Djumena)

Source: https://money.kompas.com/read/2021/08/03/110400026/luhut-september-2021-kegiatan-ekonomi-bisa-dibuka-bertahap.