Indonesia’s Widodo calls for flattened COVID-19 curve in May ‘by any means necessary’

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo inspects the emergency room of the Kemayoran Athletes Village in Jakarta on March 23, 2020, which has been converted into a COVID-19 specialty hospital. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak A) via The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA — President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has called on the government and the public to flatten the curve of COVID-19 transmission in the country this month “by any means necessary”.

“In May, we really need to reach our target of flattening the curve by any means necessary, and we must have a moderate rate [of new cases] by June and a low rate by July,” Jokowi said in his opening statement at a virtual Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The President said everyone must cooperate to reach the target.

“This is not just up to the COVID-19 task force [and] should involve all elements of the nation, including government officials, nongovernmental organizations, volunteers, political parties, and the private sector. It should be coordinated well,” he said.

Also on Monday, national COVID-19 task force head Doni Monardo said that the number of infections in the country was starting to decrease with just 395 new cases.

“The number of confirmed cases is [plateauing] and going down,” he said.

Only a day later on Tuesday, however, the Health Ministry reported 484 new cases, the highest single-day increase of the official tally since the start of the outbreak.

The government reported 367 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the cumulative total of confirmed cases in the country to 12,438.

Despite these fluctuating figures, Jokowi expressed optimism that Indonesia’s COVID-19 outbreak would end soon.

“I believe [that] if we band together and remain disciplined in obeying the health protocol, all our prepared measures can resolve the COVID-19 outbreak as soon as possible,” he said.