Following Achmad Yurianto’s departure from his role as the Indonesian government’s spokesperson for COVID-19 matters, people have been wondering whether fellow spokesperson Reisa Broto Asmoro would continue delivering daily COVID-19 briefings to the nation.
In a recent social media post, Reisa shared the news that she has also left the spokesperson gig, but has assumed a new public service role.
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“Answering many questions that have arisen, starting today I will not be informing [the nation] through daily press conferences. But God willing I will keep educating the public through a different platform. I will try to give the best for all, and I remain in the Committee for COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery,” Reisa wrote in the caption.
“Let’s keep up the spirit to implement the new habit adaptation. Remember, we’re still in the middle of a pandemic and we need to be more vigilant.”
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo recently merged the COVID-19 Task Force with a new economic recovery task force, forming a larger COVID-19 committee. The new body is headed by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartanto.
The new spokesperson for COVID-19-related matters, COVID-19 Task Force Experts Staff Chief Wiku Adisasmito, will no longer be providing daily counts of coronavirus cases and deaths. The daily updates will still be accessible through the government’s official website, while Wiku will only be reporting daily recoveries on screen.
Rita Rosita, who heads the public relations unit of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), said that Reisa is still a part of COVID-19 Task Force’s communications team. In addition, Reisa has been appointed as the ambassador for “the adaptation of new habits” program, referring to the government’s latest PR drive to handle the pandemic.
