By: Raavi Ramadhan) *
The protests that occur during a pandemic are of course very unfortunate. Apart from always ending in anarchism, demonstrations held by several parties are vulnerable to creating a Covid-19 cluster.
Demonstrations that have occurred in many places have certainly triggered the transmission of covid-19, Epidemiologist Tri Yunis Miko Wahyono said the government must remain vigilant about the spike in covid-19 cases due to a wave of demonstrations carried out by workers and students.
He said, maybe it’s not really visible at this time, but additions will definitely occur. This, of course, is very, very likely to happen, especially during that period of action was very difficult to implement physical distancing.
Tri, who is the Head of the Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Public Health, University of Indonesia (UI), estimates that the transmission of Covid-19 in Jakarta could reach 1,500 cases per day due to mass actions. This demonstration could become a new cluster during a pandemic.
He also assessed that there were still many who did not comply with health protocols when participating in demonstrations. Because all demo participants must wear masks and cannot be removed.
In recent days the addition of cases in the capital city has decreased to 900 per day. However, the government must also remain vigilant because the number of cases can increase if it is not anticipated with good isolation and quarantine.
Tri suggested to the DKI Jakarta government to continue to increase contact tracing. Because the more people are isolated, the more transmission can be prevented.
The potential for an increase in cases due to protests is expected to begin this week to next week. He also hopes that this surge does not occur. Because the spikes can get higher as the Transitional PSBB is re-implemented.
On a different occasion, Tangerang Regent Ahmed Zaki Iskandar was worried that the Covid-19 case in his area would increase. This is following the discovery of new cases in the demonstration cluster.
His party has found positive cases in the demo cluster carried out by a number of elements during the action against the ratification of the Job Creation Law.
In this October, his side has succeeded in finding new cases, that the demonstration which was held on 6, 7 and 8 October was difficult to find demonstration clusters.
From the demonstration cluster, his party found eight people positively exposed to Covid -19.
On previous occasions, the Covid-19 Task Force had stated that demonstrations had the risk of creating new clusters of transmission.
Chairperson of the Covid-19 Handling Task Force Doni Monardo, admitted that he was concerned about what had happened to the large number of people gathered in one location, where this could lead to a new cluster of Covid-19 transmission. The problem, according to him, is if this transmission results in Covid-19 patients in the OTG category (People Without Symptoms).
Doni also said that these demonstrators could infect each other in one location. Then, when they disbanded, they returned to their respective homes, fearing that they could bring the virus to their families.
Doni said, the data collected in several regions after conducting a rapid test showed that some demonstrators were reactive and the results of the swab test were positive. They also include OTG which has the potential to be a silent killer.
He also always asks parties to prevent mass crowds so that there is no more and more widespread and spread of Covid-19.
On a different occasion, Chairman of the PB IDI Mitigation Team, M. Adib Khumaidi, said that one thing that needs to be paid attention to is the demonstration that occurred a few days recently which is one of the potential transmissions.
He emphasized that the calls and shouts of the demonstration participants could certainly release droplets and aerosols that could potentially transmit the virus, especially Covid-19.
This is exacerbated by the large number of participants likely to come from different cities or regions. If one is infected, then they can certainly spread the virus when they return to their hometown.
He also said that currently, the condition of health workers and health facilities has been distracted from handling the growing number of Covid-19 patients. This was due to the surge in covid-19 patients, especially those from among (OTG) who largely ignored the behavior of health protocols.
It is important to be vigilant, as long as the status of the pandemic has not ended, there is no other choice but to comply with all health protocols to protect ourselves and those around us.
) * The author is active in the Cikini Press and Student Circle
