Indonesia’s daily tally of Covid-19 cases has declined since January, but we should not be complacent. Instead, we should accelerate the battle against the disease, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
By
KOMPAS EDITOR
·6 minutes read
KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO
President Joko Widodo (left) said that two Indonesian citizens were positively infected with the new type of corona virus (Covid-19) at Veranda, Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Monday (2/3/2020).
Indonesia’s daily tally of Covid-19 cases has declined since January, but we should not be complacent. Instead, we should accelerate the battle against the disease, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his administration, at both the central and regional levels, have become increasingly instrumental in mobilizing the public in containing the transmission of Covid-19.
A study by political scientist Francis Fukuyama shows two factors crucial to the success of pandemic management. The first is public trust in their leader. The second is a leader’s competence and effectiveness in leading their country. In a national emergency, the government must make bold decisions.
A Kompas survey has found high public trust in President Jokowi and his administration. This has provided a strong foundation for managing the country’s pandemic response, and the government must ensure that it maintains this trust or even deepen it. The transmission curve of new Covid-19 cases also shows an encouraging trend.
Since the first confirmed Covid-19 cases were announced on 2 March 2020, the number of new in-fections recorded each day continued to increase and peaked on 30 Jan. 2021 with 14,518 cases. Fortunately, after reaching this bleak milestone, the daily tally has declined. On 27 Feb. 2021, the country recorded 6,208 new cases.
The number of Covid-19 deaths per day has also decreased. The highest daily toll was recorded on 28 Jan. 2021 with 476 deaths, and had fallen to 195 deaths by 27 Feb. 2021.
This condition is followed by an increase in the daily tally of Covid-19 patients who have recovered from the disease. The number of recovered cases peaked on 8 Feb. with 13,038 cases. However, this trend reversed not long after. This development is unfortunate, because one important characteristic of a country that is recovering from the pandemic is that the number of recovered cases surpass-es the number of new cases.
At the global level, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported a decline in Covid-19 cases from the second week of January. On 4 Jan., the global tally of reported cases was 5.05 million per week, and had fallen to 2.26 million per week by 22 Feb.
The global Covid-19 toll has also declined over the past three weeks, declining 20 percent to 66,000 deaths last week. This trend shows that Indonesia and the global community have become better at managing the pandemic, raising hope for the coming years.
The Covid-19 pandemic has devastated many economies and caused a sharp fall in the forecast for global economic growth. In January 2020, global growth was initially projected as 3.3 percent, but was then lowered by more than 6 percentage points to a 3.5 percent contraction. Many nations are in dire straits, with 196 countries pouring a combined total of Rp 167 quadrillion (US$11.7 trillion) in fiscal stimulus.
Some countries have been hampered in budget reallocation by intense debate at their legislatures. The Inter-Parliamentary Union has even reminded all parliaments around the world to assist their governments in drafting new regulations and policies to fight the pandemic.
Indonesia is one of the few countries that have been able to make rapid policy decisions. The issuance of regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) No. 1/2020, later enacted as Law No. 2/2020, its flexibility in regional budgeting, and widening the budget deficit are all examples of the close cooperation and coordination between government agencies and institutions, particularly Bank Indonesia, the government, and the House of Representatives.
The 2020 National Economic Recovery (PEN) budget of Rp 695.2 trillion was approved quickly, and reached Rp 579.8 trillion in actual spending. Actual PEN budget spending reached Rp 63.5 trillion in the health sector, Rp 220.4 trillion in social assistance, Rp 173.2 trillion in company and micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) assistance, Rp 56.1 trillion in tax incentives for businesses, and Rp 66.6 trillion in priority programs. The huge social assistance program benefited 50 percent of the poorest Indonesians. Without the social assistance program, the poverty rate would have increased beyond the current reported figure.
The economy, although it is still under heavy pressure, has performed better than other G20 and ASEAN economies. While Indonesia’s economy experienced a moderate contraction of 2.1 percent, Italy recorded economic contraction of 8.8 percent, France 8.4 percent, the European Union 6.8 per-cent, Germany 5 percent, the United States 3.5 percent, and Russia 3.1 percent. On the other hand, China recorded 2.3 percent growth. In ASEAN, the Philippines economy contracted 9.5 percent and Malaysia 5.6 percent. Only Vietnam has recorded growth of 2.9 percent.
President Jokowi is confident that the combination of the micro-scale community activity restrictions (PPKM) and the vaccination program will bring down the infection rate. He has called on all sides to use the traditional approach of gotong royong (mutual cooperation) to fight the pandemic. The PPKM Mikro is targeting residential areas with implementation at the village and subdistrict levels, as well as neighborhood units (RTs) and community units (RWs). India has also achieved a success using similar program.
Launching mass testing programs in all regions in accordance with WHO standards should also be considered. The government’s plan to recruit 50,000 contact tracers to trace up to 30 direct contacts of Covid-19 cases within three days should also be realized. Increasing the number of vaccine administrators, including private sector contributions, should also be encouraged.
The 2021 PEN budget totaling Rp 627.9 trillion must be fully used. The budget incorporates Rp 133.1 trillion allocated to the health sector, Rp 148.7 trillion to social assistance, Rp 157.6 trillion to com-pany-MSME assistance, Rp 47.3 trillion to corporate tax incentives, and Rp 141.4 trillion to priority programs.
Amid the widespread circulation of hoaxes and disinformation on social media, the government must not give up on its efforts to encourage public participation. The battle against the pandemic cannot be fought by only the few, and must involve wide mutual cooperation among the people. We need the people to take part in a unified effort. We hope the country and its people will win the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
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