By: Alfisyah Dianasari) *
Indonesian President Joko Widodo does not want the additional cases to explode in one day. He gave a red light to all regional heads in order to remain serious and be careful in handling covid-19. Moreover, whether the spread of the deadly virus is widespread or not depends on the control of the pandemic by the regional head.
President Jokowi continues to pay attention to the handling of Covid-19 in Indonesia. Jokowi said that on Thursday 9 July 2020 nationally the positive cases were very high, this was a red light. The President called on regional heads to continue to suppress the growth rate of co-19 in their respective regions. The president specifically reminded Central Kalimantan Governor Sugianto Sabran.
Jokowi felt the need to remind Central Kalimantan that just five minutes ago, he received a report that in the province there were 1,093 people who were declared positive. This figure even though it seems small, but if not controlled can be large.
President Jokowi also asked the regional head not to hesitate in canceling the status of a new normal or a new order of life, if there is an increase in co-19 cases in the area. In a video conference the president asked regional leaders to make bold decisions.
In addition, Jokowi also appealed to regional heads, to hold experts in applying the new normal status in one area. Because if the policy is opened without the existence of data science and advice from experts, this will be very risky.
It also does not want the opening of a new normal force even though there are still many people infected with the corona virus in the area. This is because it has the potential to further spread the virus.
The former Governor of DKI Jakarta also requested that all regional leaders really pay attention to two crucial things, namely health and economy, these two things must be taken seriously and go in harmony with one another.
Health certainly must be a priority, but the economy must also continue to be pursued to keep going.
Local governments must be prepared to deal with health problems, besides that the local government must also be ready to distribute social assistance on target and ensure that economic stimulus, especially for the micro, small and medium business sector.
When referring to the 1998 crisis, of course the current crisis is different, when the pandemic impact on the economy was different from the economic problems in 1998.
In 98, the problem of economic damage was only struggling on the financial side. While during the co-19 pandemic this also disrupted the production, demand and distribution sides.
On the same occasion, the President also gave instructions to all regional heads, both in the provinces and districts / cities to be ready in all matters relating to health matters.
He also requested that all regional leaders be able to know when to go ahead and stop policies related to handling co-19.
The former Surakarta Mayor also asked all regional heads to be able to carry out crisis management properly. Of course the community must also be involved and adhere to the co-19 health protocol.
He does not want this problem to be taken lightly, because facing this crisis is not easy. This is indeed a health crisis but it has an impact on the economic crisis as well.
The addition of 2,657 positive covid-19 cases last Thursday was the highest number during the covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia since March 2020. The total number of covid-19 patients until yesterday reached 70,736 cases. Meanwhile, patients recovered to reach 32,651 and died 3,417.
For this, President Jokowi also reminded his ministers to work hard against the crisis due to the co-19 pandemic. He did not want the work from home policy to be impressed as being on leave, the remarks had been uploaded on a limited meeting video.
The 12-minute video shows that Jokowi wants to emphasize to all of his staff that Indonesia is currently still hit by a crisis, so do not get to work mediocre in difficult conditions like this.
To handle this pandemic certainly requires hard work from all elements, because the impact of this crisis is not only on the health sector, but many sectors that are mainly affected by the economy, education, tourism and so on.
) * The author is a citizen living in Depok
