By: Rashka Pratama )*
For around 3 months Indonesia has been hit by the Covid-19 virus, which has disrupted economic activity. That is because the virus has a risk of transmission that is easy enough to make people worry. As a result, people are forced to stay at home and wait until the virus goes away. But over time, it turns out that Covid – 19 still exists in Indonesia, even though people are tired of being at home and have to move and work. As a solution, President Jokowi adopted a standard called the new normal.
One aspect that is measured for regions to be able to implement socio-economic activities in the new normal era is public health surveillance. One indicator that shows good public health surveillance is the increasing number of Covid-19 specimen examinations followed by a reduction in positive cases of Covid-19. The next aspect is health services. The indicators include the number of beds available for new positive cases in hospitals, personal protective equipment for medical personnel in hospitals, and ventilators. Another aspect is looking at the epidemiological picture in the area. One indicator is that if the positive case of Covid-19 drops by 50 percent for two consecutive weeks. “
In addition to decreasing positive cases, the number of patients under surveillance and people under surveillance must also go down for two weeks since the last peak. Then, the number of patients recovering and the number of ODP and PDP that have been monitored must also increase. Meanwhile, the number of patients dying from positive cases must also decrease even though there is no reduction in the target. The calculation of public health indicators is a WHO recommendation for each country to determine the state of an area in the country. In particular, to determine whether the region is ready for further socio-economic activities post social distancing or large-scale social restrictions imposed in Indonesia.
Through the new normal era, the economy is expected to be able to run again, but also continue to prioritize personal health factors so that they are not easily infected by Covid – 19. There will be many people who oppose this, but there will also be many parties who benefit if the new normal is run.