Pandemic Not Over Yet

Expanding Detection of Covid-19 Transmission

KOMPAS/PRAYOGI DWI SULISTYO

President Joko Widodo

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has warned that the pandemic must continue to be treated carefully and that the vaccination gap in the Asia-Pacific region should be overcome. Indonesia is now entering the phase of controlled pandemic.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The COVID-19 pandemic is not yet over, despite the decline in cases since the peak of the Omicron wave. The treatment of the pandemic should be carried on by furthering surveillance and overcoming the vaccination gap.

Jokowi, at the opening of the 78th Session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) from the Merdeka Palace, Central Jakarta, on Monday (23/5/2022), cautioned that treatment of the pandemic should be continued.

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The COVID-19 vaccination gap in the Asia-Pacific region should also be surmounted. Currently, in the Asia-Pacific region, there is a gap between countries with the highest vaccination rates and those with the lowest. The UNESCAP is expected to support the formation of a network of regional vaccine production and distribution facilities.

In reality, the economies of some Asian-Pacific countries have not yet recovered, and have even seen 70 percent new unemployment.

The President reminded the session that today, there is increasing momentum for the region to surmount the impact of the pandemic, climate change and war. In reality, the economies of some Asian-Pacific countries have not yet recovered, and have even seen 70 percent new unemployment.

Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in his press statement on Sunday (22/5) indicated that the pandemic was not yet over in spite of the decline in cases since the peak of the Omicron surge. Therefore, surveillance should be sustained.

SALVATORE DI NOLFI/KEYSTONE VIA AP

Direktur Jenderal WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization speaks during a news conference on updates regarding on the novel coronavirus COVID-19, at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, March 9, 2020. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

Besides, almost 1 billion people in low-income countries are not yet vaccinated. At present, 60 percent of the world population has been vaccinated. Only 57 countries, nearly all being wealthy nations, have vaccinated 70 percent of their people. “[The epidemic] is not yet over until everybody is vaccinated,” said Tedros.

Transition to endemic

Deputy Health Minister Dante Saksono Harbuwono said Indonesia was entering the period of controlled pandemic. This means that the spread of COVID-19 is consistently present, but it is limited in certain areas. In addition, infection is at a level that poses no disruption to public life, as well as predictable and stable.

“We have to go through several phases to reach endemic status. From the pandemic stage we progressively enter the deceleration, controlled, elimination and eradication phases,” he told the working conference of the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission IX, which oversees demographic affairs, health and manpower, in Central Jakarta yesterday.

At this moment the WHO has not yet declared COVID-19 transmission as an endemic in all countries. The COVID-19 transmission is considered a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).

Over the last week, new COVID-19 cases have remained high in number in many countries, including the Unites States (700,131 cases), China (502,065 cases) and Australia (365,168 cases). In Indonesia, there have been 1,889 new cases over the last week.

The majority of cases receive hospital treatment, comprising senior citizens and people not yet vaccinated in full doses.

Dante stated that the situation in Indonesia was under control. After the Idul Fitri holidays there has been no spike in cases. Daily cases total 250 on average with less than 5 deaths. The majority of cases receive hospital treatment, comprising senior citizens and people not yet vaccinated in full doses.

In order to enter the endemic phase, a number of clinical and biological indicators must be present: cases less than 20 per 100,000 people per week; deaths less than 1 per 100,000 people per week; the effective reproduction number (Rt) less than 1 for a minimum of six months; and the coverage of full-dose vaccination at least 70 percent. “The transition to the endemic is prepared by easing health protocols,” he said.

AFP/JOHN MACDOUGALL

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier waves goodbye following a press conference with Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), seen on screen via video conference, after talks on the Covax global Covid-19 vaccination programme, at the presidential Bellevue Palace in Berlin on February 22, 2021, amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. – Germany is donating an additional 1.5 billion euros (USD 1.8 billion) to boost the rollout of vaccines in the world’s poorest countries, Germany’s finance minister said Friday, February 19, 2021, increasing an earlier contribution of 600 million euros.

The expert council of the Indonesian Public Health Experts Association, Hermawan Saputra, warned that the transition from the COVID-19 pandemic to endemic should not be hastened, because infection still goes on.

Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives Commission IX, Nihayatul Wafiroh, said the DPR was urging the Health Ministry to prepare a strategic policy on the transition from pandemic to endemic. (INA/TAN/AIK)