Joko Widodo wearing mask in the presidential palace. https://www.cnnindonesia.com/ekonomi/20200824132934-532-538648/pakai-masker-dan-buat-vaksin-jurus-jokowi-jaga-kepercayaan

Jokowi To Start Prioritizing Health Over Economy

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) reminded the importance of prioritizing public health in tackling the Covid-19 virus. He warned about the peril of putting economic restoration over health aspect.

This statement was uttered by the president at the presidential cabinet meeting which discussed the government’s agenda for tackling health issues and economic restoration in 2021. Jokowi also pointed out that economic restoration was not unrelated to public health.

“The recipe for a good economy, I need to reiterate this, is good public health. A good health makes our economy good”, said Jokowi.

Jokowi also highlighted three clusters of Covid-19 contagion that were recently discovered, namely the offices, houses and the newest one that was caused by mass gatherings in regional elections.

Airlangga University’s epidemiologist, Windhu Purnomo appreciated the president’s take on prioritizing health over economy.

“This is the first time I heard the government wanted to concentrate on health issues. The president has finally realized (that health is more important)”, said Windhu.

He suggested that the people’s mobility and activities must be limited, remembering that Covid-19 spreads in in-person meetings or gatherings. On top of regional lockdown, he opined that the government had to keep running Covid-19 testing and tracing to update their findings of Covid-19 cases.

If the government really meant what they said, according to Windhu, they had to be committed to prioritizing health issues. He added that the government should not issue policies that would not be aligned with the Covid-19 tackling efforts such as reopening recreational centres, shopping areas and cinemas.

Source: https://bit.ly/3lYdT0S https://bit.ly/2ZhPmtP