Joko Widodo defends Indonesia's Covid-19 record

JAKARTA - Indonesian President Joko Widodo defended his record of fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, asking for no “polemics” or “commotion” amid criticism that he is putting the economy over public health. The video statement late on Saturday came as the world’s fourth-most populous country’s Covid-19 caseload rose to 299,506. Its 11,055 coronavirus-related death toll is among the highest in Asia. The government’s handling of the pandemic since March has drawn criticism from some public health experts for prioritising economic over public health concerns. The health ministry has recently come under heavy criticism from volunteer groups and more generally on social media for what they say is insufficient spending on the pandemic, insufficient protection for health workers and high prices for private coronavirus tests. “I can say that the COVID handling in Indonesia has not been bad, indeed it has been quite good,” the president said in the statement on his official YouTube account, arguing the country’s total cases and death toll are lower than countries with comparably large populations.

from Asia
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