It has been nine months since President Joko Widodo announced the first two patients with confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Indonesia on 2 March 2020.
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By GESIT ARIYANTO
·5 minutes read
AFP/AZWAR IIPANK
This handout photo taken and released on August 11, 2020 by Presidential palace shows President Joko Widodo (C) visiting the Bio Farma Pharmacy that produce vaccines for COVID-19 coronavirus in Bandung, West Java. - Indonesia on August 11, 2020 launched human trials of a Chinese-made coronavirus vaccine with some 1,600 volunteers slated to take part in the six-month study.
It has been nine months since President Joko Widodo announced the first two patients with confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Indonesia on 2 March 2020. Since then, the pages of all media platforms have been filled with a variety of coverage – or related news – on the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Coverage on the Covid-19 pandemic in the country has been an up and down journey that is not at all wonderful. The number of cases might decrease this week, and then increase the week after. Occasionally the number of cases starts climbing, reaches a peak and then falls again. It has been that way throughout.
The irony is that, like it or not, the journey still has a long way to go. As yet, there are no clear indications on how long remains to the destined "Covid-19 free" land. Be patient, please. As of Friday (18/12/2020), 650,197 confirmed cases were recorded across the 34 provinces of the archipelago. The five provinces with the highest number of Covid-19 cases are Jakarta, East Java, West Java, Central Java, and South Sulawesi.
However, while some are keen to implement this method, others do not, and still others don’t want to hear about it.
In actual fact, the government and (some of) the public already know how to deal with the spread of SARS-CoV-2, both among individuals and within communities/regions. However, while some are keen to implement this method, others do not, and still others don’t want to hear about it.
This is where most of the nation\'s time is being spent. Restricting community mobility and tracing the close contacts of confirmed cases are the latest available "vaccines", until the real vaccines arrive. However, the consequence has been the rise of pressures on personal lives and business activities so they cannot run.
To quote author Yuval Noah Harari, the Homo sapiens species is never satisfied with what it has and what it has achieved. The economy demands continued growth and has no sense of the word “enough”. Whether it is aware or not, the entire country – as well as the world – is actually more greatly gripped by "financial" fear.
Kompas/Hendra A Setyawan
A mural about support for medical personnel handling the Covid-19 pandemic in Kinayungan, Pondok Kacang Barat, South Tangerang, Banten, on Thursday (19/11/2020).
In the end, a paradox has occurred. For the sake of spinning the economic wheel, people celebrated holidays only a matter of months after "stay at home". Even the government facilitated this. The country’s exploded in a surge of Covid-19 cases a few weeks after every extended holiday in May, July, and October. In Jakarta, the transmission rate that was once below 1 soared to above 6 after the May and July holidays.
Sketch of the archipelago
Exhaustion. That is the expression seen on the faces of the provinces, regencies, and cities as they continue to face the spread of Covid-19. One by one, the Covid-19 green zones (unaffected or nonexistent risk) have changed into orange (medium risk) and even red (high risk) zones.
This picture is clear from Sabang to Merauke, and from Miangas to Rote Island. From the islands of the Maluku archipelago to the district of Agats in Asmat regency, Papua, there is no area that remains free of the threat of Covid-19.
More than 100 doctors and 10 regional heads have died from Covid-19. The contestants, voters and organizers of the Dec. 9 simultaneous elections have also been exposed to the virus in many regions.
Like running a marathon, the fight against Covid-19 has caused fatigue, but the finish line is yet to be seen. The health facilities are full. The referral hospitals are short of beds. Asymptomatic patients fill the guesthouses, schools and hotels where they are being isolated for treatment.
The time is long past for wrangling over public discipline in applying the Covid-19 health protocols. It is time for regional heads and public figures from the provinces, regencies and cities to the RT/RW (neighborhood/community units) to stand as role models for implementing the protocols. It is high time to realize the slogan, "adopting the new normal", as a new way of life.
But these must not be used as an excuse to justify exposing public health and safety to the high risk of Covid-19.
The call for physical distancing, diligent hand washing with soap, and wearing a mask many not often be easy to follow. How do people maintain the appropriate safe distance at the evacuation centers for the eruptions of Mount Merapi and Ile Lewotolok? How should people wash their hands diligently in the arid regions of East Nusa Tenggara? But these must not be used as an excuse to justify exposing public health and safety to the high risk of Covid-19.
Adopting a low-risk way of life must be sought out and pursued. Minimal direct interaction among individuals must be instilled to realize an effective and efficient lifestyle during the pandemic.
POLRESTA JAYAPURA
The Covid-19 Handling Task Force Team together with TNI / Polri officials conducted a health protocol raid in Jayapura City, Papua, on Saturday (19/9/2020).
The one-stop digital bureaucratic system with minimal in-person services must be adopted, like it has been in Palembang, South Sumatra, which offers dozens of public services at once. Internet technology and big data make all this easier.
In the midst of the fear over the pandemic and other ensuing problems, it is time for local governments, academics, researchers, politicians, urban planners, businessmen, and all citizens to pursue a new way of life in 2021. Everything depends on public awareness in redefining how to live with the pandemic. Nothing is the same, no matter where someone goes or where they might be at any given moment.
