The Government Optimally Suppressing the Increase in Covid-19 Cases Outside Java-Bali
By: Rizki Abdillah )*
The government continues to be optimal in suppressing the increase in Covid-19 cases outside Java-Bali. The public is also advised to continue to adhere to the 5M Prokes and to comply with PPKM in order to accelerate the success of the program.
Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said that the development of Covid-19 cases was still fluctuating outside Java and Bali. At the upstream level, testing increases will continue to be encouraged to achieve the minimum daily testing target set by the Minister of Home Affairs’ instructions. In some areas the number of testing has risen close to the target, overall it has increased by an average of 50%.
In addition to testing, Airlangga said that the increase in tracing by tracers will also continue to be encouraged and digital tracing methods will be prepared. Compliance with the use of masks and local vaccination targets also continues to be encouraged.
The percentage of vaccination in several big cities outside Java is already above the national level, namely in the city of Medan it is 33.39%. Makassar 39.41%, Banjarmasin 26.9%, Pekanbaru 42%, then Banjarbaru City 27%, Jayapura 41.62% and in the Riau Islands it is also already high above 60%.
He also said that the government maintains the Bed Occupation Rate (BOR) by adding bed capacity and preparing centralized isolation facilities.
Availability of medicines and medical oxygen supplies are also maintained. Airlangga explained that oxygen outside Java, starting from manufacturers in Medan, Palembang, East Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, North Maluku and Papua is also being prepared.
He has also coordinated with the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment to balance the supply from Java to outside Java, plus a policy of facilitating imports in border areas, such as in West Kalimantan. Furthermore, the implementation of the 3M, 3T health protocols and vaccinations according to the President’s direction are things that continue to be carried out and prioritized in these areas.
On a different occasion, Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin said, almost 70% of active cases of Covid-19 were in the Java and Bali areas. Budi said that since the Emergency PPKM started in 13 days, the peak of the surge occurred. However, it is currently claimed that the trend of cases has seen a decline, especially in Java.
However, Budi said the increase in cases actually occurred outside Java. Therefore, to deal with the increase in cases outside Java, Budi wants to replicate the policies that have been implemented in Java-Bali in suppressing the rate of increase in cases.
There are two main reasons for the increase in cases outside Java. First, of course, regarding discipline in health protocols, which are lacking. Even though health protocols start from wearing masks correctly, maintaining distance is the easiest recipe to suppress transmission.
The second is the presence of the delta variant of the corona virus which has a faster transmission rate than other variants that have now entered outside Java.
Meanwhile, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Ir. Joko Widodo (Jokowi) revealed that currently the Covid-19 case on the island of Java is starting to sag. However, the increase in Covid-19 cases actually increased outside Java.
He stated that the government’s decision to implement PPKM which has now been transformed into PPKM level 4 is due to the emergence of a delta variant whose transmission is increasingly out of control.
The former governor of DKI Jakarta said that there was no other way at that time because on the islands of Java and Bali, his party saw all the red dots, none of which were yellow, so a very difficult decision had to be made with Emergency PPKM because there was no other way than that.
Jokowi also advised all small business actors to keep fighting and survive in the midst of the pandemic.
Jokowi hopes that the productive president’s assistance can help ease the burden on business actors. The assistance will be distributed to around 12.8 million micro and small business actors spread across various parts of Indonesia with a nominal value of IDR 1.2 million for each small business actor.
Upstream improvements are the key to suppressing Covid-19 cases in regions, especially outside Java. One indicator that needs to be monitored is the hospital occupancy rate.
If the Covid-19 case on the island of Java has decreased, it certainly doesn’t mean it’s happening outside of Java, after all, the government must continue to try to suppress the spread of COVID-19 cases outside Java so that there is no accumulation of patients in the emergency room like what happened on the island. Java.
)* The author is a contributor to Pertiwi Institute
