No More Negligent Acts

KOMPAS/KRISTI DWI UTAMI

A man take the antigen swab test because they cannot show the test results to the officer checking them at the Tegal City Terminal, Central Java, Monday (26/4/2021). Apart from being tested for the swab, the community was also given education regarding the prohibition of mudik (going home).

We have turned negligent amid euphoria of having COVID19 vaccines. Many of become careless in adhering to health protocols and ignore crowd restrictions, resulting in a rising number of new COVID19 cases.

If regulations to mitigate the spread of coronavirus are ignored, then our achievements in mitigating the pandemic during this past year will be futile.

Data from the Acceleration of COVID-19 Mitigation Task Force shows 1,651,794 COVID-19 cases in the country as of Wednesday, with daily addition of 4,656 cases. From the increase, the capital city Jakarta contributed 24.6 percent, followed by West Java, Central Java and East Java. Nevertheless, this figure is still lower than the peak of previous daily cases, with the highest number recorded on January 30 by 14,518 cases. Despite the better figure, we must remain alert. When the number of infections surge, it will be difficult to control the spread.

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Therefore, a surge in detected COVID-19 cases at offices must be solved immediately. According to Jakarta Provincial administration data, the surge occurred in the past two weeks. From April 5 to April 11, the administration recorded 157 positive cases from 78 offices. Then, from April 12 to April 18 the number of cases upped to 425 cases from 177 offices.

The rising number of inoculations have encouraged many offices to adopt conventional working hours, requiring physical attendance at the office. The accumulated fatigue resulting from working from home in the past year has made many office workers careless. Discussions and meetings, as well as communal dining could become a source of infection.

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Prospective passengers await the arrival of the bus at the Bulak Kapal bus pool, East Bekasi, West Java, Sunday (25/4/2021). There has not been a surge in passengers from bus bases in this area due to the ban on mudik (going home) from 6-17 May 2021. This policy was taken to reduce the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

Many people perceive that vaccine is the panacea that will end the pandemic. In fact, vaccinated people still face high possibility of coronavirus infection. It is possible for them to become positive while having lighter symptoms.

Let us look at India, which has experienced a surge in positive cases, with the total number of posi-tive cases reaching 18 million cases. Feeling of relief due to a declining number of positive cases, combined with vaccination euphoria – though the rate of inoculation is still minimal, and the new coronavirus variant are the main source of new cases surge in India. People started to attend major cultural and religious festivals, followed by violations of mask wearing rules.

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We have not reached India’s level of infections but are progressing through that condition. If we try to take an afternoon stroll, we will see crowds of people buying meals to break-the-fast, with both the sellers and buyers not wearing masks. Therefore, we must pull the emergency brake. We should remind people that there is still a long way till the pandemic ends. We must not become negligent. Health protocols should be implemented, no matter how tiring and uncomfortable they are.

Humans are social beings who cannot live alone. No man is an island, written by British writer John Donne (1572-1631). However, this time being we must exercise self-restraint. There is no need for a populist policy. Rather, the government must be strict for our own health safety, together.

This article was translated by Lionel Priyadi