Dr. Erlina Burhan: Indonesia Is Quite Successful In Handling The Covid-19 Pandemic
JAKARTA – Indonesia has been quite successful in handling the Covid-19 pandemic. Effective government policies, and collaboration between elements of society have made Indonesia able to control Covid-19, although there are new variants, especially with the discovery of the new subvariant Omicron virus, namely BA.4 and BA.5. This should be appreciated.
This was said by the Chair of the Infection Working Group of the Central Management of the Indonesian Lung Doctors Association (PDPI), Dr. dr. Erlina Burhan, M.Sc, Sp.P(K), during a dialogue with RRI Pro3 on Tuesday, August 23, 2022.
Indonesia has shown success in controlling the Covid-19 pandemic quickly. Although cases are increasing, the hospitalization rate and death rate are still under control. Moreover, the handling of Covid-19 cases in Indonesia is still the best in Asia and one of the best countries in dealing with Covid-19 in the world.
According to dr. Erlina, who is also a Lung Specialist at the Friendship Hospital, the dominant variant at this time is BA 5, but the symptoms are not as severe as delta even though BA 5 has a faster transmission rate. This pandemic always exists because of the mutation of new variants.
Therefore, continued dr. Erlina, we must remain vigilant, and practice a clean and healthy lifestyle. If we obediently wear masks, not only from Covid, but can prevent the transmission of tuberculosis and ARI, even monkeypox.
“We have stopped the transmission so that prevention efforts with health procedures are still relevant to be carried out even though the cases are decreasing,” said dr. Erlina.
To note, the results of a survey by the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes RI) in collaboration with the Faculty of Public Health, University of Indonesia regarding the Covid-19 antibody serology, turned out to show that before the Eid moment in 2022, indeed the antibodies owned by the people in the country had reached 99. 2 percent. In addition, the information in the survey stated that with a high antibody titer, it is not surprising that the public is also able to reduce the risk due to exposure to Covid-19.
Previously, there was a similar survey in the period last November and December 2021, at which time the community’s own antibodies were still around 86.6 percent and 74 percent, so it was proven that there was a significant increase.
In this dialogue opportunity, dr. Erlina also emphasized that her party will never get tired of providing education and will not get tired of reminding about health promotions, providing education in efforts to prevent Covid-19 in Indonesia.
The government, in its efforts to handle and control the Covid-19 pandemic, has also continued to intensify vaccinations to the public at large since the beginning of 2021, then recently the government is also working on a booster vaccine program or the third dose which has been carried out since the beginning of 2022 for the entire community. with age over 18 years.
Therefore, the public is highly expected to continue to comply with health protocols, especially when traveling by always wearing a mask and maintaining a distance if there is a crowd. Thus, the community has helped in handling the spread of Covid-19 in Indonesia.
The Indonesian government has implemented various ways and issued a number of policies to deal with Covid-19, ranging from regulating various matters to a comprehensive vaccination program to all Indonesian people. These various policies deserve appreciation because they have been proven to have succeeded in reducing positive cases of Covid-19 in Indonesia.–
