Religious celebrations and political activities have induced crowds, causing spikes in new Covid-19 cases in several countries. This can serve as a lesson for Indonesia.
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Deonisia Arlinta Graceca Dewi/Adhitya Ramadhan
·4 minutes read
AFP PHOTO/ WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
This handout TV grab taken on January 5, 2021 shows World Health Organization (WHO) Ethiopian Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a press briefing on Covid-19 (novel coronavirus) via video link from the WHO headquarters in Geneva.
GENEVA, WEDNESDAY — The number of new Covid-19 cases has kept increasing. On Wednesday (14/4/2021), India reported 184,000 new Covid-19 cases in a day and Thailand announced 1,335 new cases in one day. The additional totals of new cases have been the highest since the pandemic hit the two countries.
The Covid-19 pandemic weekly report by the World Health Organization (WHO) last week stated that in January and February the world witnessed a six week decline in the number of Covid-19 cases. However, over the last seven months there have been successive increases in Covid-19 cases. In the past five weeks, cases of Covid-19 mortality have also risen.
In the past week 4.5 million new Covid-19 cases were reported all over the world and 76,000 deaths due to the disease, an increase of 7 percent from the previous week. Most of the growing number of new cases were contributed by those in India, the US, Brazil, Turkey and France.
With the additional 184,000 new cases on Wednesday (14/4), Covid-19 cases in India have now reached 13.9 million. Meanwhile, Turkey on
Tuesday (13/4) reported 59,187 new Covid-19 cases, the highest number since the outset of the pandemic, and 273 deaths. The Covid-19 fatalities in India on the same day hit the 1,000 mark, the highest since the middle of October 2020.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned world citizens not to be mistaken. Covid-19 vaccines are indeed vital, but they aren’t the only means to fight Covid-19.
“Physical distancing works, masks work. Hand hygiene works. Ventilation also works. Surveillance, testing, contact tracing, isolation, supportive quarantine, they all work to stop Covid-19 infections and save lives,” Tedros wrote on Twitter on Monday (12/4).
“In some countries, despite continuing transmission, restaurants and nightclubs were full and markets were open and crowded, with few people taking precautions. Some young people appear to be taking the approach that it doesn\'t matter if they get Covid-19," said Tedros.
Negligence
AP/KARMA SONAM
Hindu devotees gather to take holy dips in the Ganges River during Kumbh Mela, or pitcher festival, one of the most sacred pilgrimages in Hinduism, in Haridwar, northern state of Uttarakhand, (12/4/2021). Tens of thousands of Hindu devotees gathered by the Ganges River for special prayers Monday, many of them flouting social distancing practices as the coronavirus spreads in India with record speed.
India is a clear example of how new cases surged when health protocols were ignored. Elections in several states invited crowds.
Tens of thousands of people also gathered in the State of Uttarakhand to join the religious festival of Kumbh Mela. The majority of Hindus participating didn’t wear face masks. On Monday and Tuesday, crowds of festival partakers packed the edges of Ganges for self-purification or ritual bathing.
The whole country has been complacent. We allowed social, religious and political congregations.
The authorities of Haridwar city where the Kumbh Mela festival was held announced that of the around 50,000 samples taken from festival participants, more than 1,000 people were confirmed Covid-19 cases.
“The whole country has been complacent. We allowed social, religious and political congregations,” said Rajib Dasgupta, a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, as quoted by Al Jazeera, Monday (12/4). “Nobody follows social distancing.”
Negligence is also seen as having triggered a spike in new cases in Thailand. Cases surged when citizens of Thailand celebrated the Songkran New Year. “The period after Songkran is the critical time to control the pandemic,” said a health official, Opas Karnkawinpong.
He therefore urged residents to stay at home for two weeks following the holidays.
KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI
The pamphlet prohibiting exodus (going home/mudik) is installed in front of the Palimanan Toll Gate, Cirebon Regency, West Java, Wednesday (14/4/2021). Residents who mudik on May 6-17 will be asked to make a U-turn.
In Turkey, which has also faced a spike in Covid-19 cases, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a new restriction for two weeks at the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan to control the spread of Covid-19.
In his speech after a cabinet meeting, Erdogan said the government reimposed the ban on intercity travel and prohibited citizens aged above 65 and under 18 from using public transportation means.
Alertness
Director of Direct Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Health Ministry, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said alertness against Covid-19 infection in the country should be further stepped up. This is needed especially after a number of countries have reported increased transmission.
In her view, high infection occurs as a result of high mobility and the emergence of new mutation variants of the Covid-19 virus with a higher degree of transmissibility. Discipline in following health protocols constitutes an important practice to be maintained.
“The public is expected to observe the ban on hometown exodus trips in order to prevent cases from surging in Indonesia. The government also continues to tighten infection control at entry gates to the country, especially on the days approaching Idul Fitri when many Indonesian migrant workers are returning home,” added Nadia.
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