The lack of transparency in data and information related to COVID-19 has hampered the handling of the pandemic in Indonesia.
By
KOMPAS TEAM
·4 minutes read
COURTESY OF ACEH ADMINISTRATION
A medical worker in a hazmat suit takes a sample from a man to perform the Covid-19 rapid test on Saturday in Banda Aceh, Aceh. The Banda Aceh Health Agency held a rapid testing program for owners, employees and customers at coffee shops across the city.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS - The lack of transparency in data and information related to Covid-19 has hampered the handling of the pandemic in Indonesia. In addition to the scale and impact of the pandemic not being well understood among the public at large, the lack of transparency can also impede the participation of the people.
Government spokesman for the handling of Covid-19, Achmad Yurianto, said in Jakarta on Thursday (4/23/2020) that number of the confirmed cases in Indonesia totaled 7,775, with 960 having recovered and 647 fatalities. Meanwhile, there were a total of 195,948 people in monitoring (ODPs) and 18,283 patients under surveillance (PDPs).
Yurianto never announced the number of ODPs and PDPs who died. Reports from a number of local governments and laporcovid19.org, a citizen-based reporting platform, show that the number of ODPs and PDPs who died in Java reached 1,558 or 2.4 times the number of those who died from the confirmed cases.
Several regions reported PDPs who died had not taken an examination using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method or the results of the tests had not yet come out, including in Cirebon, Indramayu, Karawang, and Subang regencies in West Java.
In Indramayu, for example, in the past week, almost every day there were additional PDPs who died and the total PDs who died has reached 21 people. Almost all of those who died have not yet taken a swab test using the PCR method. In Cirebon, eight PDPs and three ODPs died.
The chairman of the West Java branch of the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI), Eka Mulyana, said, the death rate related to the Covid-19 in Indonesia was based on confirmed cases. "Many patients died before the result of the swab test came out, showing the clinical symptoms of Covid-19," he said.
An officer wearing protective gear checks the temperature of an Indonesian migrant worker who arrived from Malaysia during quarantine to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), before getting exercise at Soewondo air base in Medan, North Sumatra province, Indonesia, April (11/4/2020).
Fixing the data
Yurianto said that the central and regional governments, professional organizations and experts would be involved in building a data system related to Covid-19. The goal is to improve the transparency so that the data can be used as an effective communication material for all parties, he added. "We continue to improve the data collection system. The Covid-19 data is based on confirmed cases or the results of a real time PCR examination. If the ODPs and PDPs who died, have been confirmed positive, the deaths were related to the Covid-19,” he added.
ODP and PDP data are collected in each province as the basis for the government in determining the handling of Covid-19. According to the head of the Data and Information Center of the Health Ministry, Didik Budijanto, the personal data of the patients, such as age, comorbidities, and residential areas, were collected by the Health Ministry based on epidemiological tracking sent to the Covid-19 Task Force.
Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo has proposed that the central and regional governments use integrated data collection. The collection of the Covid-19 data should begin at regency /city and then accumulated nationally.
IDI chairman Daeng M Faqih said, disclosing the information on PDPs who died would be useful for hospitals to evaluate services. For the public, the data transparency can be used as a warning that people must more disciplined in implementing large-scale social restrictions.
KOMPAS/HARIS FIRDAUS
Officers from a number of agencies arrange beds in the Graha Wisata Niaga conference hall in Surakarta, Central Java, which has been prepared to quarantine travelers, on Monday (6/4/2020). The Surakarta administration plans to quarantine mudik (exodus) travelers and local residents who are being monitored (ODP) to help curb the spread of Covid-19.
Daeng said that the fact that the large number of PDPs who died was not reported by the government showed that the inspection was low.
Yurianto said, PCR examination was hampered by the lack of reagents that had to be imported. "We are gradually trying to get reagents. It is expected that on April 24, 400,000 more tests cab be conducted," he said.
Iqbal Elyazar, a biostatistics researcher from the Eijkman-Oxford Clinical Research Unit, said the accuracy and transparency of data was important for analyzing the situation. "Openness of data enables scientists at home and abroad to help Indonesia," he said.
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