By: Putu Prawira) *
The world was shocked by the increase in Covid-19 cases in India, where the country had only 11 thousand daily cases but within one month this figure changed to 250 thousand daily cases . People in Indonesia are also asked to remain vigilant about the second wave of Covid-19 which could worsen the situation and increase more fatalities.
Covid-19 is still a world threat. President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) also reminded all levels of regional heads to always be careful in facing the potential for the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. He said, cases of the corona virus in a number of neighboring countries had increased.
Due to the increase in Covid-19 cases, Malaysia has again implemented a lockdown until next June. A similar step was taken by the state of Singapore, where since May the country has also experienced social restrictions.
We all know that social restrictions or lockdowns will have a serious impact on the economic sector, where many shops will be closed and factories that are short of raw materials so that they cannot produce.
The former Governor of DKI Jakarta also asked the regional head to increase awareness, especially since there are 15 provinces that recorded an increase in active cases of Covid-19. The 15 provinces referred to by Jokowi are Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, Bangka Belitung.
There are also DKI Jakarta, Maluku, Banten, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), North Maluku, Central Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi, South Sulawesi and Gorontalo.
He also did not want an increase in active cases of Covid-19 in the country, especially after the Eid holiday. He said, in recent times, active cases have been successfully suppressed. The peak of active Covid-19 cases in Indonesia occurred on February 5, 2021, which reached 176,000.
This figure has dropped to 48 percent and now the number is 90,800 cases. “This is what we must continue to press so that it gets lower, lower, lower. We must have endurance against Covid because this case cannot be resolved within a month or two months.
Dewi Nur Aisyah as Chair of the Data and Information Technology Division of the Covid Handling Task Force said the number of specimen examinations had decreased in the last few days.
According to Dewi, the average number of daily inspections fell to 56,000 specimens per day. This is possible due to the long holiday. The number of people examined in the last few days has also decreased significantly. Currently, the average number of people being examined is 37,000 per day.
Due to a decrease in examinations, in the last six days Indonesia has only reached 65 percent of the standards for examining the world health agency, WHO.
Dewi continued, the positivity rate has increased, from 11.77 percent in April 2021 to 12.62 percent as of May 15, 2021.
Responding to this, Doni Monardo as Chair of the Covid-19 Handling Task Force said the increase in the death rate must be used as an evaluation of the handling of Covid-19 cases at the national and regional levels.
Based on data compiled by the Task Force, on May 15, 2021, the death rate due to Covid-19 in Indonesia was 2.76 percent. Meanwhile, the percentage of cases of death due to Covid-19 in the world is 2.07 percent.
Therefore, Doni asked the regional head to detail the causes of the high number of deaths. According to him, it must also be ascertained whether the high mortality rate is because the patient is late in getting treatment or because the drug stock has started to decrease, or whether there are relatively high comorbid factors in an area.
Of course, these factors are important to identify because the state must provide protection to citizens exposed to Covid-19.
Especially for vulnerable groups in order to get more optimal services. So that if you experience symptoms, the first priority must be treatment.
Doni also reminded that handling Covid-19 after the Eid holiday was a challenge in itself. This is because community activities are increasing as usual and population mobility due to backflow has also increased.
Several hospitals in Jakarta have been confused because the ICU room has increased BOR by 67%.
Therefore vigilance and discipline towards health protocols must be carried out, because after all the status of the Covid-19 pandemic has not been revoked. What happened in India must certainly be a lesson so that Indonesia does not experience the same problems.
) * The author is a contributor to the Cikini Press Circle and Students
