Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Government has urged citizens to cancel plans for ‘mudik’, an annual exodus when people return to their villages and hometowns to celebrate Idul Fitri with friends and families, to prevent more coronavirus infections.
"The holy month of Ramadan will soon be upon us. Of course, we will miss going back to our villages, but it is more important that we keep our villages healthy. Therefore, we should not return to our hometowns," said the government's spokesperson for COVID-19 response, Achmad Yurianto, during a press briefing on Wednesday in Jakarta.
The government has made the appeal as one of the main factors in the spread of the coronavirus disease has been the movement of humans carrying the virus, he explained.
"We are aware that this virus moves because it is carried by humans, and therefore, such uncontrolled human movement will cause problems," he said.
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Therefore, raising public awareness on limiting movement, including to hometowns and villages, would be important in controlling the spread of infections, he continued.
Yurianto said he believed the community would make the right decision for ensuring the safety of all people.
"Brothers and sisters, be a hero. Protect yourself, your neighbor's family, and the nation of Indonesia. I am sure, we can do it," he concluded.
103 people recover
The Task Force for the Acceleration of Handling COVID-19 has put the number of COVID-19 patients recovering from the infection in Indonesia at 103, and the total number of positive cases at 1,677, as of 12 p.m. local time on Wednesday.
According to the task force, the coronavirus outbreak has spread to a total of 32 provinces in Indonesia.
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Cases have been reported in Aceh Province (five), Bali (25), Banten (152), Bangka Belitung (two), Bengkulu (one), DI Yogyakarta (28), and DKI Jakarta (808).
Meanwhile, Jambi has reported two cases, West Java 220, Central Java 104, East Java 104, West Kalimantan 10, East Kalimantan 21, Central Kalimantan nine, Kalimantan South eight, and North Kalimantan two cases.
Cases have also been recorded in Riau Islands (seven), NTB (six), South Sumatra (five), West Sumatra (eight), North Sulawesi (three), North Sumatra (22), Southeast Sulawesi (three), South Sulawesi (66), Central Sulawesi (two), Lampung (eight), Riau (three), North Maluku (one), Maluku (one), West Papua (two), and Papua (10). West Sulawesi has reported one positive case. (INE)
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