People With Covid-19 Can Be Cured

Kompas/Wawan H Prabowo

The government’s appointed spokesman on the novel coronavirus, Achmad Yurianto, discloses the latest global and national developments on the spread of COVID-19 on Friday (6/3/2020) at the COVID-19 Integrated Information Center at the Presidential Staff Office in Jakarta. Yurianto said that Indonesia had four confirmed cases of the disease on Friday, and that four of the 25 people who had contact with the coronavirus patients had been determined as close contacts.

Let’s take a break from our struggles against the new coronavirus. We need to be grateful for the three Covid-19 patients who have been cured.

We are heartened to hear that people do not need to panic because the disease can be overcome by increasing endurance and a healthy lifestyle. Patients identified as Cases 1, 2, and 3 tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this month and received treatment for more than two weeks at the RSPI Sulianti Saroso Hospital in Jakarta.

They have recovered and have left the hospital with happy faces. This indicates they received good treatment at the hospital. For this reason, we extend our appreciation to RSPI Sulianti Saroso Hospital, to the doctors, nurses and all those who dedicated themselves to this risky and noble humanitarian task.

However, we do not deny that the disease, which has spread to more than 140 countries, infected more than 160 thousand people, caused more than 6,400 deaths and been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), is still a major challenge for humanity. The epicenter of the pandemic, China, has successfully overcome the plague. Many other countries have declared national emergencies, and some have enforced self-quarantine or lockdown policies, such as Italy.

KOMPAS/ISMAIL ZAKARIA

A worker wipes down a bench with disinfectant on Tuesday (17/3/2020) at Lombok International Airport in West Nusa Tenggara. Many public facilities in the province are using disinfectant for routine cleaning to contain the COVID-19 outbreak in Indonesia.

We understand lockdowns have enormous economic consequences because of limitations on human movement. Supply and delivery as well as transactions will be disrupted, and there are still many other sequential impacts.

Until early this week, the Indonesian government had not thought about enforcing a lockdown. Since the beginning of this week, we have implemented a social distancing policy, which encourages people to stay away from crowds, work from home and maintain distance from others. Some believe the government’s policies are too soft, when the risk is so high.

We want to underline the message of the chairman of the Task Force for the Acceleration of the Handling of Covid-19, Doni Monardo, that all parties must unite to overcome this pandemic.

Scientific studies show that social distancing effectively contributes to reducing disease transmission. If this is effective, it means the burden on hospitals and sample testing agencies can be reduced. We are relieved that some patients have recovered, but the struggle ahead is still steep and long.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

Passengers practice social distancing in a train car plying the Commuter Line’s Rawa Buntu-Tanah Abang route at 11:28 a.m. on Tuesday (17/3/2020). President Joko Widodo\'s call for social distancing, staying at home and eliminating unnecessary travel has led to a sudden decline in passenger numbers in Jakarta’s mass transit system.