By: Panji Saputra)*
Confirmed cases of Covid-19 have generally been sloping down in Indonesia, this has been going on for the past few months. Conditions like this have brought the economy back to life and school activities have started to return to normal.
Employment absorption and increased shopping activities are also evidence that the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia has received good handling.
In addition, the education sector has also actively held face-to-face learning while still prioritizing health protocols.
Meanwhile, Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin said that the contribution of health workers from various professions was very significant in controlling the Covid-19 pandemic so that it was completely under control. He had said that Indonesian President Joko Widodo had asked him to prepare a scenario in an effort to turn the Covid-19 pandemic into an endemic one.
All phases of a pandemic in the world, in the end will always be endemic, it’s just that it requires preparation. Referring to the history of pandemics in the world, Budi said that it requires many factors to consider to turn a pandemic into an endemic. Not only health factors, there are also political and socio-cultural factors that are considered for a country and world leader who change this from a pandemic to an endemic.
According to input from epidemiologists, the transmission rate or reproduction rate (Rt) must be reduced to below 1 in a span of three to six months, and the coverage of two-dose vaccination is at least 70 percent of the population.
Prof. Wiku Adisasmito as the Government Spokesperson for Handling Covid-19 emphasized that success during the transition from the pandemic to endemic is determined by the safe behavior that people carry out during their daily activities.
In principle, the opportunity for transmission of Covid-19 is inevitable. The best way to minimize the chance of transmission as much as possible is to cover every gap of transmission both before, during the trip and after.
Wiku said that in order for the country to successfully pass the transition period, several safe behaviors to carry out productivity during the Covid-19 pandemic through the discipline of health protocols must be applied.
Currently, the Ministry of Health through the Digital Transformation Office team is trying to digitize health through nine ongoing and future activities, one of which is digitizing and integrating health services through applications so as to realize service efficiency at the puskesmas, clinic, hospital, laboratory and pharmacy level.
Setiaji as Chief Digital Transformation Office of the Ministry of Health said that medical record applications will also be available in Indonesia.
In addition to reducing transmission rates, technology can also play a role as a means of fending off various health hoaxes, including Covid-19. Medical personnel can also be credible sources in filling the digital space to provide correct information to the public as well as to ward off hoaxes.
It is undeniable that technology has a role in turning the Covid-19 pandemic into an endemic one, both in terms of helping to reduce transmission rates through education on the implementation of health protocols and increasing the coverage of Covid-19 vaccinations. These two things are important components that support, and can turn the Covid-19 pandemic into endemic in Indonesia.
On a different occasion, Epidemiologist from the Faculty of Public Health, University of Indonesia (FKM UI), Pandu Riono urged the government not to intervene in the implementation of restrictions on community activities (PPKM) because the Covid-19 case had been sloping. On the other hand, the Covid-19 antibody in the community has also increased.
This shows that the government no longer needs to implement the implementation of restrictions on community activities (PPKM) as it had done in the previous year.
In the economic sector, economic growth in Indonesia has also been relatively good in these three quarters, with an average growth of above 5 percent and inflation of 4.9 percent as the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic improves.
The government also continues to provide food supplies so that prices remain affordable and inflation remains stable within the set targets, even though fuel prices have increased.
Previously, the Spokesperson for the Covid-19 vaccination of the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi in a written statement, said this scientific approach created room for improvisation so that handling tactics were faster and more efficient.
Nadia said that data-based policies will produce results. One of them is an effort to keep the bed occupancy rate (BOR) in Covid-19 hospitals to a minimum.
Currently, many offices have implemented Work From Office (WFO), although some are still implementing WFH (Work From Home) for reasons of efficiency.
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