By: Dodik Prasetyo) *
The pandemic situation tends to be more serious, marked by the increasing number of positive cases of Covid-19 in Indonesia. The public is also asked to be aware and disciplined in implementing health protocols so that more people do not contract Corona.
The pandemic is not over yet, the distribution of vaccines is also not evenly distributed across Indonesian society, so people need to be constantly reminded about the sense of crisis or vigilance against the spread of the Covid-19 virus.
However, over time, the community’s alertness level tends to decrease. This condition causes the spread of the Covid-19 virus in Indonesia to seem unstoppable.
Epidemiologist from the Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing (FKKMK) Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) Riris Andono Ahmad said that with increasing time, the sense of crisis will lower, so the public must be reminded, because there are consequences for every action.
Until the end of January, the total number of confirmed positive cases of Covid-19 in Indonesia had reached 1,078,314 people. The increase in the number of virus transmission is accompanied by an increase in the number of deaths.
Riris assessed that when the transmission of the virus was high, the public could not rely solely on 3M’s health protocol, namely wearing masks, washing hands and maintaining distance. The 3M Health Protocol is inadequate when positive cases of Covid-19 are at a high rate. If this condition occurs, then the community is obliged to reduce mobility in order to avoid the virus.
He also emphasized that what makes the virus infectious is human mobility. The higher the mobility, the more infectious the virus will be.
Executive Director of the Institute for Health Development Studies and Consultation (LKP2PK), Ardiansyah Bahar, also encouraged the public to support all policies from the government to avoid the transmission of the Covid-19 virus.
Ardiansyah said that a sense of crisis is certainly the main thing that must be owned by the community, given the pandemic condition that has not ended. Especially with the increasing burden of health care facilities in dealing with Covid-19 patients.
According to him, imposing restrictions on community activities (PPKM) is an effort to reduce community mobilization. These policies must be adhered to in order to reduce the risk of transmission.
He believes that if the mobility restriction policy is implemented properly, coupled with a successful vaccination program, this will certainly have an impact on reducing cases. However, of course this effort must be supported by community discipline in implementing health protocols.
Reportedly, Indonesia is one of the lucky countries, because it is one of the first 40 countries to vaccinate.
Of course the community has a vital role in breaking the chain of the spread of Covid-19, if our people are obedient and obedient to implementing health protocols, the handling of these non-natural disasters will be faster.
After all, the 3M protocol and Vaccination are two equally important agendas to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Epidemiologist Syahrizal Syarif said vaccines need time to create a person’s immune system. In addition, it is impossible for the entire community to be vaccinated immediately because the vaccination process will be carried out in stages.
Syahrizal gave an example, although currently there are dozens of vaccines, from the 1940s, the world recorded the emergence of 365 new diseases and only one disease that could be eradicated (destroyed), namely smallpox.
With this fact, he also asked the public not to worry about the safety of vaccines, because this is the main requirement in their manufacture.
On a different occasion, the mayor of Pontianak Edi Rusdi Kamtono said that the development of the Covid-19 pandemic case in Pontianak City has decreased and tends to slope. This is evidenced by the results of the swab test screening and the condition of the hospitals in the city of Pontianak.
Edi added, people’s behavior is very familiar with health protocols. The community also understands how to maintain body immunity with a healthy lifestyle so that they can fight the corona virus. However, his party continues to follow the development of the Covid-19 case in Pontianak City where community mobility and activities are getting higher. For this reason, the Pontianak City Covid-19 Task Force team continues to monitor.
This is reinforced by the statement of the Head of the Pontianak City Health Office, Sidiq Handanu, who said that the hospital that served Covid-19 patients had an occupancy rate of below 30%.
Of course what happened in Pontianak should be used as an example regarding efforts to be free from the threat of the corona virus or covid-19.
) * The author is a contributor to the Press Circle and Mahas