Fight the Pandemic
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Covid-19 outbreak to be a pandemic. The WHO says there are 118,000 cases and more than 4,000 deaths to date
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Covid-19 outbreak to be a pandemic. The WHO says there are 118,000 cases and more than 4,000 deaths to date.
The WHO also said during its announcement that the novel coronavirus was believed to have spread to all continents except Antarctica.
"We have never before seen a pandemic sparked by a coronavirus. This is the first pandemic caused by a coronavirus. And we have never before seen a pandemic that can be controlled, at the same time," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the 11 March 2020 media briefing.
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The WHO made the announcement after noting the soaring number of confirmed cases outside China, especially in South Korea, Iran and Italy. Its decision was based on its concerns over the virus’ “alarming levels of spread and severity”, as well as the “alarming levels of inaction”. In Indonesia, the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 – which is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus – continues to grow and has claimed one life.
Humanity is once again confronted with a pandemic, both nationally and internationally. The WHO defines a pandemic as an epidemic cause by a new disease that has spread over several countries or continents, while an epidemic is “the occurrence in a community or region of cases of an illness, specific health-related behaviour, or other health-related events clearly in excess of normal expectancy”. The last reported pandemic was the H1N1 flu in 2009, during which hundreds of thousands of people died worldwide.
The government has issued a containment protocol. Have the steps taken so far been effective enough?
Pandemics have become part of the journey of human civilization. One of the earliest pandemics was reported in 1580. At least four influenza pandemics occurred in the 19th century and three others occurred in the 20th century. The severest pandemic in the 20th century was the 1918 pandemic of a type of influenza known as the "Spanish flu". This pandemic affected about 500 million people, or one-third of the world\'s population at that time, and killed around 50 million people worldwide. There was also the H2N2 virus that spread in East Asia in 1957. However, its occurrence in the human environment was brief.
Indonesia announced its first confirmed cases of Covid-19 in early March, and the figure has continued to grow. The government has issued a containment protocol. Have the steps taken so far been effective enough?
To answer this, it helps us map out what we have been doing. It is good to continue with the government’s protocol, as well as better hygiene practices and increasing the body\'s immune system. Beyond that, much work still needs doing, particularly in the context of a suspected delay in Covid-19 management, as Kompas reported on Thursday (13/3/2020).
In addition to appointing a spokesperson for all issues related to the coronavirus, a higher-level authority is still needed to coordinate further management. The health minister needs to demonstrate qualified leadership. For now, we need to have an idea of the big picture, the available and necessary capacities, and how to develop effective strategies to stop the spread of the virus, among other things.
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The successful treatments that have been developed in China – where the virus originally emerged – as well as in Vietnam and Singapore, are worth learning. We have learned from Kompas reports that three countries were prompt in responding to the disease. We might still be uncertain about over whether to carry out a broad and open prevention program, including when to publicize the results, with the risk of economic consequences, such as the decline in tourist numbers. We can see that countries that succeeded in managing the epidemic did not hesitate to take such drastic measures.
Like it or not, there is a need to review the strategies for managing the epidemic, starting with tracing the people who may be infected. In addition, other testing facilities outside the Health Ministry’s research and development agency must be recruited to increase the country’s testing capacity and to speed up test results. A similar strategy can be applied to referral hospitals.
According to the latest developments, there is optimism that this pandemic can be stopped. It has been part of the fate of humankind to face natural challenges from time to time, whether in the form of natural disasters or outbreaks of infectious diseases. However, it must be admitted that we need to work smart, in addition to working hard in a disciplined manner. We must mobilize all our resources toward defeating the coronavirus.
One undeniable thing is that the smarter and more professional we work, the more likely we will succeed in managing the epidemic, like China, Vietnam, and Singapore did. If not, it is not just the health of citizens that will be at risk, but also the economy that has become lethargic, if not paralyzed, given the disruption to many supply chains.
As we already pointed out in the Editorial on Tuesday (10/3/2020), the current situation is not easy. There is much work that needs to be done today to face the challenges ahead. We must be ready for the worst-case scenario, whether by imposing a citywide lockdown or social distancing. Some communities have already taken initiative, such as by reducing public activities. Schools and universities are taking their tests and examinations remotely.
The issue is not just whether humanity will win the battle against the coronavirus, but how we manage an outbreak capably and quickly, with smallest possible number of fatalities. We are sure the public can contribute greatly in this effort.
Amidst this severe problem, as a religious nation we still need to remain calm to achieve inner silence and resolve in order to attain enlightened insights to discover solutions.
If we look at the information on social media, the coronavirus epidemic was allegedly predicted in The Eyes of Darkness by novelist Dean Koontz, in End of Days: Prediction and Prophecies About the End of the World by Sylvia Browne and Lindsay Harrison, and in the 2011 film Contagion. It can be a coincidence, but these imagined visions have arisen because the writers are knowledgeable and live in a clean, natural environment.
We believe that a clear mind is needed in addition to quick and thorough work to overcome problems as complex as the coronavirus. Now is not the time to blame each other, but rather to come together, hand in hand, to defeat our common enemy: SARS-CoV-2.