Indonesia considers lifting entire COVID-19 restrictions

Indonesian President Joko Widodo puts on a mask after delivering a speech at an economic seminar in Jakarta on December 21. (Photo: https://jakartaglobe.id/)

Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo on December 21 indicated that the government will lift all social restrictions related to COVID-19  that have been in place for nearly three years.

Addressing a seminar on the Indonesian economic outlook in Jakarta, the leader said Indonesia is now well-equipped to deal with the ongoing pandemic.

The number of daily cases is no longer a threat to the national health system in comparison to the tens of thousands of cases a day during its peak, he said.

The daily number was recorded at 1,200 on December 20, he said, noting that maybe at the end of 2022, his country will declare an end to large-scale social restrictions and people’s activity restrictions that began in April 2020.

The daily tally hit a record high of 64,718 cases on February 16, triggered by the Omicron variant. The country of 273 million people has reported 6.7 million cases and over 160,000 deaths since the pandemic broke out in March 2020./.