The Covid-19 pandemic is getting under control. The trend of cases also shows a decline. Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati even said that 2022 would be the last year of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Because this is the third year and we hope that this will be the last year for Indonesia and the world to face a pandemic,” she said in a press conference on APBN Kita, Tuesday (20/12/2022).
The same thing is happening at the global level, even though China is currently recording an increasing trend of Covid-19 cases, in line with the opening up of community activities in that country.
Sri Mulyani said Indonesia was in a relatively good situation in terms of the number of cases and the increase in vaccinations.
Sri Mulyani said the government would continue to be aware of the increase in Covid-19 cases in line with increased community activity during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
“The 45 million people who will be traveling this year will certainly increase economic activity, but on the other hand it will be maintained from the threat of Covid-19,” she said.
Previously, the government officially cut the budget for the health sector in the 2023 State Budget, after experiencing a two to threefold increase in 2020 and 2021.
Previously, the budget for the health sector before the pandemic was in the range of IDR 80 trillion to IDR 90 trillion. This nominal jumped to IDR 102.18 trillion in 2020, or when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in Indonesia. The figure will rise again to IDR 201 trillion in 2021, then drop to IDR 136 trillion in 2022, and fall again to IDR 85 trillion in 2023.
Furthermore, Secretary General of the Ministry of Health (Secretary General of the Ministry of Health) Kunta Wibawa Dasa Nugraha said that the budget for the health sector, which will decrease next year, will not necessarily reduce health services.
“In 2023 to IDR 85 trillion. If it continues to go down, does it mean that the service is reduced? No,” said Kunta, quoting the official website of the Ministry of Finance, Monday (19/12/2022).
For information, as of 16 December 2022, the government recorded a total of 6.71 million cases of Covid-19 in Indonesia, with 32,042 active cases. Meanwhile, the government recorded 160,362 deaths, or a rate of 2.4 percent.
On the global side, the total number of Covid-19 cases reached 657.06 million cases with 18.40 million active cases. Cumulative death cases were recorded at 6.67 million cases.
