To date, at least 10 world leaders have tested positive for Covid-19. The pandemic must not be underestimated and a stronger fortress should instead be built as a defense against the disease.
By
EDITOR
·3 minutes read
ANTARA/ HAFIDZ MUBARAK A
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo prepares to make a press statement related to COVID-19 at the Bogor Palace in West Java on Monday (16/3/2020). President Jokowi asked the heads of regional governments to communicate with agencies of the central government, such as the COVID-19 Task Force and ministries, for making major policies related to the handling of COVID-19 outbreak and emphasized that lockdowns should not be carried out by local governments.
To date, at least 10 world leaders have tested positive for Covid-19. The pandemic must not be underestimated and a stronger fortress should instead be built as a defense against the disease.
Even a superpower like the United States has been unable to contain the pandemic. The fact that President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have been infected also indicates that the coronavirus has succeeded in infiltrating the heart of the fortress.
The nine other world leaders who have tested positive for Covid-19 are British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (27 March), Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin (30 April), Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (1 June), Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez (17 June), Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (7 July), Bolivian interim president Jeanine Anez (9 July), Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti (2 August), Guinea-Bissau Prime Minister Nuno Gomes Nabiam (29 Aug.), and Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei (18 Sept.).
The heads of a number of state institutions in Indonesia, including ministers, governors, regents, and mayors, have also contracted the disease, not to mention the large number of ordinary people. The question is, have we truly strengthened our defenses, or have we eased them?
The number of new cases in that country began to decrease in August.
Indonesia needs to learn from the experience of other countries in handling the disease. The higher the number of new cases, the larger the number of leaders are infected, and this can certainly affect a country’s condition. President Bolsonaro tested positive for Covid-19 in July, when the number of new Covid-19 cases in Brazil was at its peak. The number of new cases in that country began to decrease in August.
The same thing occurred in England. The number of new Covid-19 cases peaked between March and April, when Prime Minister Johnson contracted the disease. Afterwards, the curve of new cases declined in July, but it increased again in August-September. The same trend was also seen in the US. The number of new cases in the country again increased in early September after showing a downward trend at the end of July.
The number of new cases in Indonesia has continued to increase since the first two cases were announced in March. We need to be more vigilant. Moreover, the official campaign period of the 2020 simultaneous regional elections (Pilkada 2020) began on 26 Sept.
Kompas
Canada\'s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accompanied by Melanie Joly (R) Canada\'s Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages speaks with Krishnaraj Tiwari about vaccines at the National Research Council of Canada in Montreal, Quebec, Canada August 31, 2020.
We need to learn from the regional election in the Malaysian state of Sabah. Five days after the local election was held, the Malaysian state recorded the second highest daily increase in new Covid-19 cases. Most of the new cases were related to an increase in the movement of people traveling to Sabah ahead of the election on 26 Sept.
The findings of the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) indicate that the number of health protocol violations during the public campaigns of election participants is only continuing to grow. The agency recorded a number of violations in 19 regions on 26-27 Sept. Meanwhile, it found that campaigns in 35 regencies/cities violated the health protocols on 28-30 Sept.
All state authorities should be mobilized to strengthen the nation’s defense against Covid-19. Don\'t let your guard down.
