Watch out for Increased Mobility at Year-end

The spread of the new Omicron variant prior to Christmas and New Year serves as a warning against negligence and complacency.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Train passengers wait for the results of an antigen test at Pasar Senen Station, Jakarta, Tuesday (21/12/2021). Ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays, there has not been a significant increase in the number of long-distance train passengers passing through Pasar Senen Station and Gambir Station.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — In spite of the appeal to reduce mobility over Christmas and New Year’s, quite a number of people still planned to travel during the holiday season. The potential for a surge in public mobility at the year-end should be anticipated by tightening control over people’s movements as well as checks for health protocol compliance.

According to a survey by the Transportation Ministry’s Research and Development Agency, the potential for public mobility during Christmas 2021 and New Year 2022 is 7.1 percent, or around 11 million people. Greater Jakarta has an estimated mobility potential of 2.3 million people.

The potential for increased mobility was also indicated in the results of the Kompas Research and Development opinion survey, held on 7-9 Dec. 2021. Of the total 515 respondents, 79.9 percent said they had no plans to travel over Christmas and New Year’s, whereas 18.7 percent still planned to travel for the holidays.

Although the public has been asked to limit their movements over the year-end holidays, people have still decided to travel for a variety of reasons, including that they felt it was safe because they were vaccinated (35.9 percent), they wanted to follow the tradition of vacationing during the holiday season (23 percent), and they believed that the Covid-19 pandemic was no longer a threat (16 percent).

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> Indonesia Tightens Borders over Omicron Variant

> Omicron Variant Might Enter Indonesia in November

Chairman of the Indonesian Public Health Experts Association, Ede Surya Darmawan, said on being contacted in Jakarta that community transmission of the Covid-19 virus was ongoing. Although the number of reported new cases was comparatively low at present, the potential for infection remained. Increased mobility during the Christmas and New Year holidays could lead to widespread contagion.

“Our detection capability is not yet optimal. So the best possible measure is to implement the health protocols, including mobility restriction and avoidance of crowds. Any individual could potentially carry the virus, so it will be dangerous to meet with other people in regions with low vaccination rates,” Ede said on Tuesday (21/12/2021).

Ede added that the new Omicron variant detected in Indonesia should be seen as a warning to heighten vigilance against Covid-19. A spike in cases caused by the new variant was certainly not desirable. Therefore, government efforts in intensifying detection, quarantine and public mobility restriction were badly needed.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Traffic conditions on Jalan Pajajaran, Bogor City, West Java, Tuesday (21/12/2021). The inconsistency of central government policies regarding the implementation of community activity restrictions (PPKM) at the end of the year will have an impact on the Jakarta buffer zone, both in terms of traffic density and citizen mobility.

High mobility

Transportation Ministry spokesperson Adita Irawati said that, in view of the rising trend in public mobility on a monthly basis since October 2021, people may have started traveling far ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays.

She expected that the potential for increased public mobility at the year-end would remain high, especially in cities. However, the government would not restrict mobility and instead focus more on controlling and tightening the health protocols.

To anticipate increased mobility in cities, the Transportation Ministry had instructed provincial transportation offices to apply the odd-even traffic system to match local conditions, particularly during peak hours and in line with other traffic arrangements.

Also read:

> Omicron Variant Transmission Expanding

> Anticipating Community Transmission of Omicron

In addition, all transportation operators were asked to control health protocol compliance at departure, during trips and during passenger arrival.

Regarding the public behavior of avoiding year-end travel, sociologist Arie Sujito from Gadjah Mada University said this indicated that society had developed a more rational mindset in facing the risk of Covid-19 infection. The public had most likely learned from the case surged that occurred in the middle of 2021, driven by 2the prevalence of the Delta variant.

According to Arie, the government should not become complacent even though the Covid-19 caseload was decreasing. This was crucial to prevent any spike in cased that could occur over any long holiday.

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

Travelers from Hungary wait for their vehicles after undergoing a 10-day health quarantine at the Pasar Rumput Flats, South Jakarta, Tuesday (21/12/2021). The government requires international travelers to carry out a PCR swab test upon arrival, quarantine for 10 days, a second PCR retest on the 9th day of quarantine, and quarantine for 14 days specifically for foreigners who arrive from 11 countries where the Omicron variant community transmission is located.

Vaccination no guarantee

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said comprehensive efforts were being taken to control Covid-19 transmission. Restriction and control measures were being tightened at all point of entry. In addition, testing, tracing, and vaccinating had been intensified and their coverage expanded.

The public had also been urged to maintain discipline in following the health protocols. Vaccination should be understood as one way to reduce the risk of Covid-19 infection, instead of the only means of preventing infections.

“It should be noted that post-infection viral neutralization and immunity may be reduced in terms of Omicron compared to other variants, so it is highly probable that some people who have been fully vaccinated and gotten boosters will still be infected with Omicron,” he said.

Also read:

> Omicron to Become World’s Majority Variant

Covid-19 Control Task Force spokesman Wiku Adisasmito reinforced the minister’s statement, saying that vaccination was not a panacea for preventing Covid-19 infections.

This was proven by cases of infection in other countries. The United States, for instance, had fully vaccinated 61 percent of its population, while South Korea had fully vaccinated 92 percent of its population. Yet, the two countries were still experiencing an increase in cases especially infections by the Omicron variant.

Infection can be prevented only through discipline in complying with the health protocols and appropriate policies on international travel.

“Vaccines are indeed highly beneficial for preventing [disease] severity and fatalities. However, infection can be prevented only through discipline in complying with the health protocols and appropriate policies on international travel,” added Wiku.

Public compliance with the health protocols in society should therefore continue to be intensified. At present, mask noncompliance has been reported in 1,948 villages and subdistricts, or 22.69 percent of all villages or subdistricts in the country, while 23.24 percent of villages/subdistricts reported inconsistent compliance with social distancing. (TAN/OSA/MEL/RTG)

This article was translated by Aris Prawira