The extension of the Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) has received appreciation from many parties, including academics. The implementation of PPKM Level 4 until August 9, 2021 is expected to reduce the spike in Covid-19.
The extension of the Implementation of Restrictions on Community Activities (PPKM) certainly presents various responses, however the PPKM policy is something that is determined through risk analysis.
Professor of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia (UI) Tjandra Yoga Aditama said the government’s move to continue PPKM level 4 from August 2-9, 2021 was the right one. According to him, PPKM will be relaxed if it is seen from the risk analysis data.
Through his statement, Tjandra said, the high level of transmission in the community with the ability to respond to health services was then known as level 4,3,2 and others. On the other hand, there are also parties who relate it to only one aspect, namely epidemiological data on the number of new cases reported.
As an illustration in India, the daily number of positive cases reached 9 thousand people. There was an increase on April 17 with cases per day reaching 261,394 cases across the country, an increase of 25 times.
On April 17, New Delhi which is the capital of India imposed a lockdown, but cases still increased to 414,188 cases in a day on May 6, 2021 and then gradually decreased. New Delhi only started easing the lockdown gradually on May 31, 2021 when daily cases in India had already fallen to 127,510 cases.
This means that about half of the daily cases at the start of India imposed a lockdown. It may not be very accurate to compare New Delhi’s policies with daily figures for the rest of the country, but it can at least give an idea of the trend.
Compared to Indonesian data on May 15, 2021, daily new cases in Indonesia were 2,385 people. The number continues to increase on July 3, 2021 when the Emergency PPKM begins, which on that date the number of new cases was 27,913 people or an increase of 10 times with an average 7-day figure of 23,270 people.
So far, the highest cases occurred around July 15 with 56,757 cases with an average of 44,145 people 7 days, then there was a downward trend. On August 2, when it was necessary to decide on the continuation of the PPKM level, the addition of new cases was 22,404 people, as if it was lower than the beginning of the emergency PPKM on July 3, 2021, but it turns out that the 7-day average is still much higher, at 38,295 people. This means that the situation on August 2 is not better than the situation on July 3 when the emergency PPKM was started, because it is very fixed if PPKM level 4 continues first.
Previously, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Ir. Joko Widodo, had decided to extend the implementation of PPKM level 4 for some districts/cities. The extension of PPKM level 4 is until August 9th. In his statement, Jokowi said that PPKM was able to reduce the number of Covid-19 cases in several parts of Indonesia that implemented the policy.
This policy is apparently supported by the Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta, Ahmad Riza Patria, who hopes that the extension can reduce the spread of Covid-19 cases, which are currently sloping in the capital.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) also supports the government’s policy to extend PPKM until August 9. Shinta Kamdani as Deputy Chairperson of KADIN revealed that his party had coordinated with all KADIN member entrepreneurs to the regions to follow PPKM level 4 rules. so.
On a different occasion, the policy regarding the extension of PPKM also received support from the Humanity Solidarity Forum (Forum SK) which was initiated by national figures, professors, social and professional activists, UGM Professors and Unsrat supported the government in extending PPKM for humanitarian reasons.
Prof Baiquni, a member of the SK Forum as a UGM professor, said that a series of government policies implemented to limit people’s mobility was indeed a dilemma but this needed to be done in order to minimize the transmission of COVID-19. Especially with the emergence of the delta variant of the corona virus.
Right now what can be done is to hold on for a while because otherwise this cycle will continue, taking more lives, the economy and the normal life of the people.
Savira Ayu, author is a contributor to the Press Circle and Cikini Youth