3rd October 2022 – President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said that the government is open to the opportunity to declare that the Covid-19 pandemic to be over in the near future. This is told during the launch of the Inclusive Partnership Movement for Upgrading Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) on Monday (3/10).
“The pandemic has indeed started to subside, maybe we will soon declare the pandemic is over,” said Jokowi from the Presidential Secretariat’s YouTube channel.
The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) also said that the signs of the end of the Covid-19 pandemic can be seen on Sunday (2/10).
Nevertheless, Jokowi reminded that the global economic situation must still be considered due to the post-pandemic economic recovery having yet to return normally but rather, worsened. He said that it’s not only caused by the pandemic that’s been going on for two years or more but also the war happening in Ukraine.
He said that the current world’s economy is in a really bad position, as the uncertainty is really high. All countries, even developed countries, are in a very difficult position right now.
Despite that, he is still grateful that the economic recovery in Indonesia in the second quarter of 2022 reached 5,44 percent. He’s convinced that the number can increase in the third quarter.
Previously, the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the end of the pandemic is near based on the data on Covid-19 cases in the world which have drastically decreased since 2020.
According to Ghebreyesus, Covid-19 has killed millions of people and infected 606 million since its first came at the end of 2019. Last week, the number fell to its lowest level since March 2020.
The number of weekly deaths due to Covid-19 reported by The Guardian reached the lowest mark since March 2020.
“We have never been in a better position to end the pandemic,” said Ghebreyesus, “We are not there yet, but the end is in sight.”
