By: Raffles Silaban)*
The public needs to be aware of the increase in Covid-19 cases in a number of regions. This vigilance needs to be implemented by continuing to apply strict Prokes during activities.
Although in general the confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Indonesia show a slowdown in cases, Prof. Wiku Adi Sasmito as the Coordinator of the Expert Team and Government Spokesperson for Handling Covid-19 stated that there were 5 provinces that recorded the highest increase in positive cases when compared to the previous week.
The five provinces are West Papua, which has increased by 100 cases, DI Yogyakarta has increased by 77 cases, DKI Jakarta has increased by 46 cases, Southeast Sulawesi has increased by 7 cases and the islands of Bangka Belitung have increased by 5 cases.
Although this increase is relatively small, it is still large when compared to other provinces that did not experience an increase in cases, he also appealed to all governors of the five provinces that experienced increases this week to immediately coordinate with regents and mayors under them to anticipate an increase in cases. the following week.
Regional governments are also asked to anticipate an increase in cases in the following week and continue to increase the prevention of Covid-19 transmission in their regions. However, nationally this week there has been a 12.2% decrease in Covid-19 cases compared to the previous week.
In addition, the death rate due to Covid-19 has also decreased, even this week’s decline is much lower than the decline in the number of positive cases, which is down to 31.7%.
Unfortunately, there are still 5 provinces that still recorded the death toll this week. The five provinces are North Sulawesi which experienced 5 cases of increase in deaths, West Sumatra increased by 3 cases of death, South Sulawesi increased by 2 cases of death, Riau increased by 2 cases of death and West Kalimantan increased by 1 case of death.
Even though the number of deaths is small, vigilance must be maintained because even one life is very valuable if the goal is to endemic Covid-19, so the death of even 1 case cannot be tolerated.
Prof. Wiku also revealed, 5 provinces with the highest number of active cases this week. The five provinces are Central Java with 1,650 cases, Papua with 1,629 cases, West Java with 1,568 cases, DKI Jakarta with 1,536 cases and North Kalimantan with 738 active cases. He said, to the governors of these 5 provinces to immediately coordinate with the regents-mayors who became the highest contributors.
Wiku reminded that if the indicators were positive, the patient died and the active case could be lowered immediately. Of course, the development of Covid-19 at the national level will improve and Indonesia will be more prepared towards the Covid-19 endemic.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikit reported that as many as 155 districts or cities are currently experiencing an increase in Covid-19 cases. He also appealed where vigilance needs to be done because a spike in cases is happening in neighboring countries (Malaysia) including the AY.4.2 variant which is a mutated variant of the Corona virus Delta B1.167.2 variant.
Budi also said that every day his party conducts 1,500 to 1,800 whole genome sequencing (WGS) examinations every day to detect new virus variants, including the AY.4.2 variant. Budi also emphasized that his party will guard the border, especially since many Indonesians return to and from Malaysia by land, sea and air to contain the entry of a new virus into Indonesia.
Previously, President Joko Widodo had also asked regional heads to remain careful and be aware of the slightest increase in Covid-19 cases in their regions. Jokowi said that a number of regions in Indonesia had experienced an increase in Corona virus cases, although the numbers were small.
He also reminded all parties to maximize the use of the Care Protect application platform, especially in malls, tourist attractions and markets. He also saw that there were still places where the QR Code cared for Protect was not yet available but they were still operating.
On the other hand, Jokowi also reminded all regional heads to continue to accelerate vaccinations to protect the people while encouraging economic growth. He said that vaccination was important because vaccination was able to protect people from being exposed to Covid-19.
Vigilance must not be relaxed, the increase in Covid-19 cases even though it looks small must still be watched out for because the status of the pandemic is not over yet.
)* The author is a contributor to the Press Circle and Cikini Students
