The President Prioritizes People’s Health Over Economy

By: Ahmad Prasetyo )*

The Covid-19 pandemic is currently still ongoing and the Government continues to struggle to overcome this. The Indonesian government also ensures that the safety of the people comes first compared to other sectors.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo emphasized that the government’s main focus in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic is to continue to prioritize public health and safety. According to Jokowi, good handling of the health sector is the key so that economic handling can also run optimally.

This was conveyed by Jokowi when he opened the Plenary Cabinet Session for Health Management and Economic Recovery in 2021.

Good health will be the key to a good economy, that’s more or less the sentence said by President Jokowi.

The former Surakarta mayor has asked his staff to focus on efforts to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. The former governor of DKI Jakarta believes that with good handling of the pandemic, economic activity will also improve.

Don’t let us start in the economic sector but the Covid affair has not been handled. Because it is very dangerous.

Especially with the positive cases of Covid-19 reaching 194,109 people. Of these, 138,575 were declared cured and 8,025 people died.

Jokowi had previously reminded his staff and regional heads to apply gas and brakes in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. Gas and Rem is carried out by considering case data in an area before opening up certain sectors.

He also warned that three clusters of corona virus transmission needed to be watched out for. This is following the increasing number of positive cases of Covid-19 from the three clusters, namely the office cluster, family and regional head elections.

The call to adhere to health protocols focuses only on public places. Even though the three clusters are very important to watch out for.

He asked the Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian and the police to closely supervise the implementation of regional elections and according to health protocols.

Indonesia has also anticipated the arrival of the corona virus by preparing a hospital with isolation room facilities according to international health standards. There are 100 hospitals that have isolation rooms in Indonesia.

Indonesia also has adequate equipment. In addition, the government has also formed a joint team from elements of the TNI, Polri and civilians to anticipate the spread of the Covid outbreak.

We all know that the unbroken spread of Covid-19 has forced us to maintain a distance of approximately 1 meter and reduce outdoor activities. This method is believed to be effective in preventing the increasing number of victims infected with the corona virus.

Apart from social distancing, there are also terms of isolation and quarantine that are no less popular during this corona pandemic.

The term isolation itself is carried out for someone who falls ill and is confirmed to have been exposed to Covid-19, so that people around him are not affected, this patient chooses to isolate himself for some time until he is completely cured

If he has recovered, this person has also not been allowed to travel to crowded places and must carry out independent isolation to ensure that the corona virus does not eat away at the body anymore.

In addition, there is also the term home quarantine, this activity is a preventive effort carried out by isolating oneself. The quarantine participants will be placed in a special room so that they are not contaminated by the outside world.

The habit of using masks is also very important, because by wearing masks we can reduce the possibility of transmission.

Of the three things that were mentioned, the appeal aims to limit transmission of the virus to healthy people who are out there.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) recorded a total of 184 health workers who died during the corona virus pandemic. Some of these health workers were confirmed to have died positive for Covid-19 and were suspected. The 184 health workers consist of general practitioners, specialists, dentists and nurses.

The death of health workers during the Covid-19 pandemic has received the public spotlight. Epidemiologist from the Faculty of Public Health, University of Indonesia, Pandu Riono, said that the state must be present to protect health workers who have fallen due to the corona virus pandemic.

The interests of the people of course must continue until a vaccine is found. This of course requires cooperation from various groups, both medical and non-medical.

)* The author is a contributor to the Indonesian Strategic Information Studies Institute (LSISI)

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