By : Restu Pertiwi *)
The phenomenon of the increase in Covid-19 cases in Indonesia is increasingly troubling. This made Zubairi Djoerban as the Chair of the Covid-19 Task Force for the Management of the Indonesian Doctors Association (PB IDI) to ask the Government to re-tighten the implementation of health protocols for handling Covid-19 amid the increasing number of cases in recent weeks.
Zubairi understands that the psychological condition of the Indonesian people is tired of the tightening of the Covid-19 pandemic for more than two years. However, he reminded that the transmission of this virus is still very volatile and has the potential to experience a spike, especially due to the emergence of new variants.
Based on data research that the authors found, it was recorded that during the period 8-14 June 2022, the cumulative number of confirmed Covid-19 cases was 4,349 cases. Meanwhile, in the previous week or June 1-7 2022, Covid-19 cases totaled 2,687 cases. The development of the number of deaths due to Covid-19 also shows an increasing trend, although not significantly. During the period 1-7 June 2022, the number of Covid-19 deaths was 33 cases, lower than the death data for the past week, which was 38 deaths.
Therefore, the author invites the entire community to re-implement the health protocol. In line with the author, Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta Ahmad Riza also reminded Jakarta residents to be obedient, obedient, and disciplined and responsible for observing health protocols.
Riza said the discipline of health protocols was an important effort to break the chain of transmission of Covid-19 even though the level of pain and symptoms of the Omicron variant was not too severe. As of June 15, 2022, active cases in Jakarta reached 3,282.
Head of the Disease Prevention and Control Division of the DKI Health Office, Dwi Oktavia, said the number of people undergoing treatment or isolation, based on the results of adding active cases as of June 15, 2022, was 576 cases. People undergoing treatment or isolation are referred to as active cases of Covid-19
Therefore, Dwi urges the public to carry out booster vaccinations for residents who have received two doses of complete vaccine. He also said that prosecution for violations of the use of masks would be intensified again. Sanctions for these actions are in the form of social work, fines, temporary suspension of activities, to revocation of business licenses. According to the author, this is done so that the community can be more disciplined in implementing health protocols and participate in breaking the chain of transmission of Covid-19.
From the author’s point of view, adapting to the Covid-19 virus does not mean that we cannot live “normally”. We can still carry out normal activities only with the addition of a few things as part of the adaptation. All new things are definitely uncomfortable, but sometimes we have to get out of our comfort zone in dealing with these situations to get better.
The author also invites the whole community to keep their distance, wear masks, and take tests if they feel unwell. We also have to keep track of the trend of infection in at-risk groups, tracking the trend of “variant of concern” that circulates and can spread. Although from an evolutionary point of view the virus is far from over, the good news is that the vaccine continues to work well because it significantly reduces hospitalization, ICU and mortality rates.
The conclusion that the author can convey is that with the significant increase in new cases of Covid-19, we as a society must undergo strict health protocols again, maintain our diet and health by exercising. So that we help the Government in breaking the chain of the spread of Covid-19 in Indonesia and we hope that the Covid-19 pandemic will end soon.
*The author is a contributor to the Trilogy Institute
