New Cases Continue to Increase

AWALUDIN UNTUK KOMPAS

Health workers examine a patient at a puskesmas (community health center) in Sotek village of Penajam district, Penajam Paser Utara regency, East Kalimantan.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Indonesia continues to increase and the spread of the disease in the country further widens. It makes Indonesia the second-hardest-hit country in Southeast Asia with 31,186 cases, after Singapore which has recorded more than 37,000 cases.

However, the death toll in Indonesia is the largest in Southeast Asia with 1,851, while in Singapore, the death toll is only 25.

Government spokesman for COVID-19 mitigation Achmad Yurianto said during a face-to-face press conference in Jakarta on Sunday that the highest increase was recorded in Jakarta with 163 new cases, followed by East Java (113 cases ), South Sulawesi with 64 new cases and Central Java with 51 cases. "A total of 21 provinces reported fewer than 10 new cases, even eight of them reported no cases at all," he said.

Read also: Handling of Covid-19 Outbreak No Longer Concentrated in Jakarta

Yuri also said 10 provinces reported fewer than five confirmed cases include Bangka Belitung, Yogyakarta, East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, Riau Islands, Southeast Sulawesi, Lampung, North Maluku, West Papua and West Sulawesi. The provinces without new cases are Aceh, Bengkulu, Jambi, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, North Sumatra, Riau and East Nusa Tenggara.

The absence of new cases could be due to a lack of testing in the regions. Conversely, increases in new cases were due to increased examinations.

An epidemiologist from Laporcovid-19.org, Iqbal Elyazar, said the absence of new cases in a number of provinces did not mean that the spread of the disease had been totally stopped. The absence of new cases could be due to a lack of testing in the regions. Conversely, increases in new cases were due to increased examinations.

"The government should announce the number of examinations in each region so that we know whether the capacity is sufficient or not. There has been an increase in the capacity of examinations nationally, but they are still not evenly distributed," said Iqbal.

KOMPAS/TOTOK WIJAYANTO

The protective goggles of a medical worker at Puskesmas Duren Sawit, East Jakarta, look misty when conducting rapid and swab tests on vendors at Perumnas Klender Market on Friday (29/5/2020). More than 50 sellers underwent medical tests. Similar tests conducted last week found 50 sellers had COVID-19. The Indonesian Market Sellers Association recorded that 233 sellers had tested positive for COVIF-19 nationally, of which 19 died.

So far, the government has only announced the total number of examinations nationally. As stated by Yurianto, swab examinations reached 11,924 per day, both with real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and molecular rapid tests. "So that the total number of samples examined is 405,992," Yurianto said.

However, the number of people examined per day is only 4,406 and the total so far is only 269,146. The number of samples is higher because one person can be examined more than once and more than one type of specimen.

Read also: Systemic Covid-19 Mitigation Prepared for Hardest-Hit Regions

Very small

The head of the patient safety research center of Airlangga University in Surabaya, Inge Dhamanti, said that in many areas, including in East Java, the number of tests and their locations were still lacking. In addition, receiving the test results still takes a long time. "On average, it still takes three to five days in Surabaya and surrounding areas. For Madura which does not have its own lab, it can take longer," he said.

According to Inge, in addition to burdening the hospital, the delay in obtaining the test results also caused many people under monitoring (ODPs) and patients under surveillance (PDPs) to die before the test results were obtained. "It can be true that the official number of deaths due to COVID-19 is far lower than the actual number due to the delay in receiving the test results," he said.

The limitation of the number of regions conducting the tests could also contribute to the large number of ODPs and PDPs that have died in the regions. It is different from the criteria of the government regarding 102 regencies/cities which are declared to be in the green zone or free from the coronavirus because no confirmed cases have been reported.

Referring to the death of ODPs and PDPs in certain area as stated in the Laporcovid-19 data provided by the government, there were only 67 regencies/cities that could be considered green zones.

The implementation of a new normal life order, according to Social Affairs Minister Juliari P. Batubara, is expected to provide the people opportunities to resume their activities, but they have to implement a strict health protocol.

Living in the middle of the COVID-19 outbreak does not mean that you have to be passive and do nothing.

President Joko Widodo\'s invitation to make peace with COVID-19 should be understood wisely. Living in the middle of the COVID-19 outbreak does not mean that you have to be passive and do nothing. "It means not giving up. Living side by side with COVID-19 means that people can work again but they have to adhere to the health protocols," said Juliari when opening a virtual discussion titled " Psychosocial Support in Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Adjustment To \'New Normal” on Saturday.

Meanwhile, an online quick survey conducted by the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) on "Changes in Household Dynamics during the COVID-19 Pandemic Period" found that most violence experienced by women was related to psychological and economic violence, apart from physical and sexual.

ARSIP SHAKARULLAH

Ambulance driver Shakarullah, 32, prays before starting work on Friday (22/5/2020) at Ratu Aji Putri Botung Hospital in Penajam Paser Utara regency, East Kalimantan.

The survey conducted from April to May 2020 in 34 provinces with 2,285 respondents revealed the magnitude of violence against women triggered by economic pressure.

Despite the violence, Komnas Perempuan\'s study found that most of the victims did not report the violence. The victims are 31-40 years old on average with a monthly income of less than Rp 5 million per month, informal sector workers, married, with three or more children. They mostly live in 10 provinces with the highest exposure to COVID-19.