Day after day, news of the increase of Covid-19 virus transmission continues. This is also due to the emergence of an Omicron variant which also contributes to the high transmission rate in Indonesia.
According to data from the Ministry of Health, as of January 31, 2022, there were 10,185 positive cases. Throughout January, there were an average of 2,924.19 daily positive cases every day. This is a sharp increase compared to the December 2021 average of 203.58 people per day. Thus, this figure indicates a surge of 1,336.38%.
In a press conference of the Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK), Wednesday (2/2/2022), Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Minister of Finance, spoke, “We will certainly continue to monitor the development of the Omicron case. Even though there is an increase in Omicron conditions, from a strategy perspective it is different from the delta and the impact on the economy is definitely different. Mainly related to community mobility and economic activity, it is still running.”
She added that the current situation is different from the first wave in early 2021 and the second wave in the middle of 2021. Now more and more people have received vaccines, even vaccinations for children are already underway.
If look the national vaccination target of 208.26 million people, as of January 31, 2022, the number of people who have received the first dose of vaccine is 184.68 million people. This indicates that the vaccination that has been implemented has reached 88.68% of the planned target.
Then, for the second stage of vaccination, 128.03 million people or 61.48% have been carried out. Meanwhile, 4.22 million people have received the third dose of vaccine (booster).
Sri Mulyani added, “The impact in terms of economic activity is expected to be maintained and the number of cases is not as deep as 2021. We saw in January, economic activity was better even though the government continued to implement policies. For example, during the Nataru holiday, people are not allowed to gather in large groups. massive.”
By looking at recent developments, Sri Mulyani believes that the economic growth in the first quarter of 2022 will definitely be better than the first quarter of 2021 which grew negative 0.7%. He is optimistic that although the Covid-19 transmission rate is high, the national economy will not be significantly disrupted.
“We remain optimistic that the economic recovery will strengthen, above the first quarter of 2021. So that we can achieve the economic growth target of above 5% in 2022,” she said.
