Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) decided to relax the use of masks amid the Covid-19 conditions in Indonesia.
This was announced by Jokowi in a press statement delivered at the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, Tuesday (May 17, 2022) at evening.
“First, the government decided to relax the policy on wearing masks,” said Jokowi, as broadcast live via the Presidential Secretariat’s Youtube channel.
“If people are doing outdoor activities or in open areas that are not crowded with people, then it is okay not to wear masks,” said Jokowi.
However, Jokowi emphasized that the use of masks still applies to residents who carry out activities in closed rooms and public transportation.
The use of masks also continues to apply to people who are categorized as vulnerable, elderly or have congenital or comorbid diseases.
“Similarly, people who experience symptoms of coughing and cold must still use masks when carrying out activities,” said Jokowi.
For information, during the last two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, the use of masks is one of the mandatory health protocols to prevent transmission of the corona virus in Indonesia.
The mandatory use of masks has been carried out by the central government since early April 2020. Mandatory masks were decided by the government based on the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Now, it is said that the government is starting to prepare scenarios for handling Covid-19 in Indonesia from a pandemic to an endemic. One of them is to allow the implementation of the 2022 Eid homecoming after the previous two years were limited.
In addition, the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (Menko PMK) Muhadjir Effendy said that Indonesia had de facto headed for the Covid-19 endemic.
Muhadjir said the condition was based on Covid-19 data in Indonesia. These include the number of active cases, the positivity rate, the hospital occupancy rate, and the low mortality rate.
“Now there are signs that are not the highest of existing diseases,” said Muhadjir, Thursday (May 12, 2022).
Muhadjir said that the transition from pandemic to endemic was at stake after this year’s Eid holiday. According to him, if there are no additional significant cases after Eid al-Fitr, then Covid-19 in Indonesia will soon become endemic.