Kompas Research and Development: Majority Agree on the Change of Status from Pandemic to Endemic

President Joko Widodo officially revoked Indonesia's COVID-19 pandemic status and changed it to endemic. This means the pandemic status, which had been in effect for three years (2020-2023), has officially ended.

"The government has decided to revoke the pandemic status and transition to an endemic," Jokowi said in a press statement reported by *Katadata*, Wednesday (June 21, 2023).

This decision was made after considering several factors, such as the near-zero daily case numbers, the community's high level of immunity, and the World Health Organization's (WHO) statement on the latest COVID-19 transmission.

"The WHO has revoked COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern," Jokowi added.

So, how did the public respond to the transition of COVID-19 status to endemic?

Based on a Kompas Research and Development (Litbang Kompas) survey, the majority of respondents agreed with the policy change to endemic status, even before President Jokowi announced it.

The results showed that 69.5% of respondents gave a positive response to the change from pandemic to endemic status. This breaks down to 8.9% strongly agreeing and 60.6% agreeing.

Meanwhile, 22.6% of respondents were less than agreeable, followed by 3.9% who strongly disagreed. Another 4% responded with "don't know."

Litbang Kompas also asked about public confidence in the government's performance should a COVID-19 worsening occur in the near future.

As a result, 7.6% of respondents said they were very confident and 63% said they were confident. Meanwhile, 27% of respondents felt unconvinced.

This survey involved 1,004 respondents aged 17 years and older from 34 provinces in Indonesia. The sample was randomly determined according to the population proportion in each province.

The research method was conducted via telephone between May 24-29, 2022. The survey also has a margin of error of approximately 3.09% and a 95% confidence level.

(Also read: Indonesia's Active COVID-19 Cases Ranked 21st in Asia)