By: Aulia Hawa) *
Corona virus, which has been endemic since a few months ago, sparked concern for the global community, including Indonesia. The Indonesian government also acted quickly to anticipate the impact of the Corona virus spreading.
The virus outbreak that attacks China is a human problem which is the responsibility of all human beings. Given this virus can be spread anywhere without regard to national borders. No country in the world wants its territory exposed to this frightening virus. Because it involves the safety of the lives of all humans.
The Corona virus raises the issue of cross-border health threats. The threat of the Corona Virus is very different from the provocation of the China coast guard and its fishing vessels in Natuna when tensions occurred between the Government of Indonesia and the Government of China. Although it has a threatening nature , the form, how to respond, the party who responds, the object of the threat, and the consequences are different .
The economic impact is felt from the outbreak of the Corona virus, a negative effect on the economy is at least visible from the correction in the capital market, namely the Hang Seng Index and the Shanghai Composite Index. After this news, Reuters (January 21) reported in Asia Lurch Lower Shares, Flu Concerns a Possible Culprit that there was a sharp decline in capital markets in almost all of Asia, due to fears of massive spread of the Corona virus. Hangseng shares declined -2 , 45 % since news of the Corona virus spread outside China. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite Index was corrected by -1 , 78 %.
The impact of Corona’s loss on the Indonesian economy is targeting the tourism, trade , investment and mining sectors . At the extreme point, the tourism sector can be affected in the form of a decrease in the number of tourists, both foreign and domestic, especially those visiting Bali. This happened because from Bali there were direct flights from Wuhan, China, the origin of the virus.
The decline in tourist visits can occur due to travel allert from countries with many citizens to Indonesia, especially Bali. This is very possible because China is the country of origin of the third largest foreign tourists in Indonesia. As of November 2019, the number of Bamboo Curtain Country tourists visiting Indonesia was 147,500 tourists or 11 , 7 % of the total foreign tourists. This composition is a challenge for Indonesia to convince the world that the Corona virus will not enter Indonesia.
The next sectors that are threatened are trade, investment and mining. Indonesia has trade links with China. Portions trade (import) Non-oil from China in 2019 was the largest that is 29 , 95 % or US $ 44.58 billion in 2019. With such a large portion, the probability of transmission of the virus through the trading activity is likely to occur.
Of all the possible losses that could occur due to the transmission of the Corona virus, the Government of Indonesia has demonstrated capabilities in dealing with the spread of the Corona virus. A total of 238 Indonesian citizens from Wuhan ( Corona virus zero point ) were observed in Natuna , all of which were stated to have been infected. Praise was delivered from the WHO Indonesia representative by saying that the Government of Indonesia had carried out quarantine according to WHO standards and there were no residents infected with the Corona virus.
This appreciation seemed to answer the international doubts about Indonesia’s ability to deal with the spread of the Corona virus. It is reasonable to consider that with such a large population, there are no cases of residents being infected while in neighboring countries there have been cases of citizens being infected. Indonesia actually has the ability in terms of Human Resources and health material to detect and isolate if someone is infected with the Corona virus.
The outbreak of the Corona virus must not cause excessive fear. Especially to act discriminatory against ethnic Chinese, victims, or those who were sent home from China . However the government has done the best with positive results on the response to the Corona virus . The success of the government is expected to have an impact on the emergence of security in the community so that social and economic activities can resume smoothly.
) * The author is a social political observer
