Anticipating an Increase in Covid-19 Cases

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Visitors play on swings at Taman Impian Jaya Ancol Beach, North Jakarta, Thursday (29/10/2020). People are going to beaches and visiting resorts over the long weekend. The number of visitors to the beach that day was recorded at around 22,000 at 3 p.m. The visitor quota was limited to 25 percent of capacity or 25,000 people during this transitional large-scale social distancing (PSBB) period.

This week\'s long holiday has the potential to increase positive cases of Covid-19. Preparation is needed by increasing inspection and tracking.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — An increase in community mobility during this week\'s collective leave has the potential to trigger a spike in Covid-19 cases. Anticipation efforts accompanied by strict supervision are needed to keep the disease transmission under control.

The potential for the spike in cases has arisen because the calls to implement health protocols during the holidays are difficult to respond to optimally in a number of places. Positive or reactive cases of Covid-19 have been found among travelers.

Positive cases were found in two tourists visiting the Borobudur temple area, Magelang, Central Java. This was known based on the results of a swab test at the Tourist Information Center in Magelang regency on Friday (30/10/2020).

Read also: Travelers Test Positive for Covid-19

The head of the Magelang Regency Health Office, Retno Indriastuti, said the two tourists from outside Central Java did not show any symptoms of illness. They came in family groups. "We asked them to return home. If the return trip is too far, the two may be able to use nearby locations for independent isolation,” said Retno.

Meanwhile, of the 2,229 travelers who underwent the Covid-19 rapid test held by the Bandar Lampung City Government from Monday to Thursday (26-29/10), as many as 63 people were found to be reactive.

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

Vehicles line up at the Cikampek toll road on the JORR KM (kilometer marker) 47 toll road in Bekasi city, West Java, Wednesday (28/10/2020) at 9:15 a.m. The density of traffic was caused by the high volume of vehicles during the long weekend. To unravel the density of the Jakarta toll road toward Cikampek, state-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga has implemented contraflow traffic engineering starting from KM 47 to KM 61 in the direction of Cikampek from 8:45 a.m. and also temporarily closed the rest area at KM 50 toward Cikampek.

Of the 63 people, according to the spokesman for the Bandar Lampung Covid-19 Mitigation Task Force, Ahmad Nurizki, 57 people came from outside Bandar Lampung. Meanwhile, the other six people were residents of Bandar Lampung who had just returned from outside the region.

"We ask residents from outside Bandar Lampung who are reactive to Covid-19 to return to their regions of origin. Meanwhile, the residents of Bandar Lampung have been asked to do the independent isolation by themselves," said Ahmad.

Read also: Tips for the Long Holiday: Covid-19 Spokeswoman Dr. Reisa

Until yesterday, the Bandar Lampung task force continued to examine people who entered Bandar Lampung. The examination was carried out in the districts of Rajabasa and Sukarame.

Contradictive

An epidemiologist from the University of Indonesia (UI), Pandu Riono, confirmed that this week\'s long holiday would increase transmission. "This holiday policy is contradicting the mitigation of the pandemic. Cases will definitely increase again,” he said.

There are definitely benefits to wearing masks, but what about keeping distance?

Even though there are calls to implement health protocols during the holiday, both on trips and at tourist attractions, according to Pandu, this cannot prevent an increase in transmission. "There are definitely benefits to wearing masks, but what about keeping distance? The risk of transmission remains great. The long holiday that triggers high mobility will definitely raise the cases,” he said.

KOMPAS/P RADITYA MAHENDRA YASA

A child walks among ornamental plants on display in Gunungpati district, Semarang city, Central Java, Friday (30/10/2020). Besides going to tourist attractions, some residents choose to spend their long holiday at the ornamental plant trading sites.

Pandu and a team from the UI Public Health School with the support of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) have recently made a modeling of the Covid-19 outbreak in Indonesia which is expected to subside in early 2022. Meanwhile, the peak of the increase in daily cases is estimated to occur in the first trimester of 2021. A professor of the School of Medicine, UI, Akmal Taher, said that the relaxation of mobility during this long holiday should be followed by an increase in countermeasures, especially case testing and tracking. "Currently, there is no significant increase in the testing," he said.

Data from the Covid-19 Mitigation Task Force on Friday showed that there was an addition of 2,897 Covid-19 cases with 81 fatalities. The number of cases was obtained from examining 24,854 test samples, while the number of people examined was only 23,278 people.

The number of checks is below the minimum standards of the World Health Organization (WHO), namely 1 per 1,000 people per week, or for Indonesia, 38,500 people per day.

It was said that on 28 October, the number of daily samples and people tested were 40,572 and 27,344, respectively.

The WHO report on Indonesia\'s situation on 28 October 2020 also underlined the lack of such tests. It was said that on 28 October, the number of daily samples and people tested were 40,572 and 27,344, respectively. On the same day, the number of suspected cases was 169,833. "The gap between suspected cases and tested people has been widening since 29 August," the report said.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

The situation in a shopping center in South Jakarta during the collective holiday, Friday (30/10/2020). Many residents who chose not to travel outside the city opted for malls as a place of recreation during the long weekend.

The acting director general of disease prevention and control of the Health Ministry, Budi Hidayat, said that monitoring of health protocols and tracking cases needed to be more intense. "The health offices in each region must reactivate their health surveillance activities at the village and hamlet levels," he said.

Return flow

The head of the Jakarta Transportation Agency, Syafrin Liputo, said that the return flow of the long holiday would occur on Sunday (1/11). However, in order to avoid high density traffic and the spread of Covid-19, residents were asked to return early, this Saturday.

State-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga observed that on the three leave days from Wednesday to Friday (28-30/10), as many as 509,140 vehicles left Jakarta. The total volume of vehicles leaving Jakarta increased 40.3 percent compared to the new normal phase.

The increase in the number of passengers also occurred with out-of-town buses and trains.

KOMPAS/NINO CITRA ANUGRAHANTO

Visitors walk into the Tamansari complex, in Yogyakarta city, Friday (30/10/2020). The number of people at tourist destinations has increased.

Syafrin asked residents returning to Jakarta to be aware of the rest areas. "If the health protocols in the rest areas are not implemented properly, (there is) big potential for transmission. Moreover, the residents tend to be tired while in the rest areas so their immunity has the potential to decrease," he said.

The Jakarta Transportation Agency also urged managers of toll roads and rest areas to deploy officers for the sake of tight supervision. (TAN/AIK/HLN/GER/ VIO/COK/NCA/RTG/ETA/BRO/EGI)