President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is seeking a reduction in year-end collective leave days. Enforcement of health protocols throughout all stages of the 2020 regional elections must be ensured.
By
KOMPAS TEAM
·5 minutes read
KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI
Officers check passenger tickets at the departure gate of Pasar Senen Station, Jakarta, Sunday (1/11/2020). Entering the last day of a long holiday, the number of train passengers to Central Java and East Java is still busy.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Entering the fourth week of November 2020, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country has breached half a million. The number of new cases continues to rise in several regions, leading to many referral hospitals starting to fill up. There needs to be more serious efforts to prevent COVID-19 transmissions becoming more aggressive, especially with the 2020 regional elections and year-end holidays getting nearer.
According to the national COVID-19 task force data, 4,442 new confirmed cases were recorded on Monday (23/11/2020), bringing the total tally to 502,110. Out of the 514 regencies/municipalities in Indonesia, COVID-19 cases have been detected in 505 regencies/municipalities. A total of 422,386 people have recovered from the disease, while 16,002 have died.
NasDem Party chairman Surya Paloh is among those who have been infected by COVID-19. Deputy mayor of Cirebon, West Java, Nashrudin Azis has also been infected.
Responding to the continuing increase in COVID-19 cases, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, during a limited meeting in Jakarta on Monday (23/11/2020) pertaining to the report from the national COVID-19 and economic recovery committee, reminded his subordinates to balance the pandemic containment measures in line with the needs of the economy.
“The brakes and the gas pedal must be strictly handled. Don’t slack off. Also, don’t let the second wave [of COVID-19] emerge, which could set us back. Preventive measures and intervention must be firmly enforced, particularly in regard to events that would potentially violate health protocols,” said the President.
The President also touched upon the issue of the upcoming regional elections, which will take place in 270 regions approximately two weeks from now. The President called for an increase in compliance with health protocols.
BIRO PERS SEKRETARIAT PRESIDEN/LUKAS
President Joko Widodo at the Bogor Palace, West Java, Friday (9/10/2020).
Reducing collective leave days
During the limited meeting, the President also requested a reduction in year-end collective leave days.
Previously, the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) had urged the government to reevaluate its decision regarding the year-end collective leave, proposing a nullification of the decision if possible. The proposal was made given that the number of new confirmed cases has always surged after long holidays, as happened back in August and October (Kompas, 17/11).
Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy will soon hold a coordination meeting to follow up on the President’s request for a cut in year-end collective leave days.
The year-end collective leave days will start from Dec. 24 until Jan. 1, 2021. The collective leave on Dec. 24 is for the Christmas celebration, while Dec. 28 to 31 are replacement collective leave days for Idul Fitri, which were postponed because of the pandemic.
Increasing tests
To prevent a spike in new cases in December, Iqbal Elyazar, epidemiologist of LaporCOVID-19, said test and tracking efforts must be increased.
As an example, the total number of nationwide new cases recorded on Monday was obtained through 27,334 tests. According to the World Health Organization’s standard, Indonesia should test at least test one person per 1,000 head of population per week, or 38,500 people per day.
Tonang Dwi Ardyanto of the Indonesian Association of Clinical Pathologist and Laboratory Medicine said there was no reason not to increase the number of tests. If the capacities to run swab tests using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis are limited, antigen tests could be an option.
Kompas
An increase in cases of Covid-19 during the 2020 long holidays
Meanwhile, Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) member Afifuddin called for a strengthening of coordination among poll organizers, the police and the public order agencies (Satpol PP) at the regional level, especially in the last two weeks of the election campaign period, which will end on Dec. 5. Regional electoral candidates are expected to increase their campaign activities, which could potentially lead to violations of health protocols.
To prevent crowds during voting day on Dec. 9, a member of the General Elections Commission (KPU), I Dewa Wiarsa Raka Sandi, requested voters attend polling stations according to the timetable set out by the polling station working committees.
Full hospitals
Hospitals have been full since last week
The continuing increase in COVID-19 cases has led to a number of referral hospitals becoming packed with COVID-19 patients.
Tonang, who also serves as the spokesperson of Sebelas Maret State University Hospital’s COVID-19 task force, said it was difficult for COVID-19 patients to get treatment in hospitals in Surakarta, Central Java. “Hospitals have been full since last week,” said Tonang.
Head of the Cirebon Health Agency Edy Sugiarto said almost all isolation rooms in nine hospitals across the city were full. Private isolation facilities in several hotels are reportedly packed as well.
According to Ari Fahrial Syam, dean of the University of Indonesia’s (UI) School of Medicine, the increase in new cases has been caused by high mobility and crowds.
Meanwhile, epidemiologist Windhu Purnomo from Airlangga University argued new cases emerged because public awareness about implementing health protocols remained low. ( NTA/LAS /AIK/BOW/SYA/IKI/BRO /ETA/VIO/ DIT/ DKA / XTI /FLO/VDL/ FRN/ RTG/ TAM /HLN/ DNE / KOR)
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