A number of countries are working hard to cope with the emergence of new cases of Covid-19, which they fear could turn into a second wave of infections.
By
KOMPAS TEAM
·4 minutes read
AFP/WILLIAM WEST
A long queue of cars wait at a drive-through COVID-19 testing site located in a shopping centre carpark in Melbourne on June 23, 2020. - Australians were warned June 22 to avoid travelling to Melbourne, as the country\'s second biggest city tightened coronavirus restrictions amid fears of a second wave of the epidemic.
MELBOURNE, WEDNESDAY – A number of countries are working hard to cope with the emergence of new cases of Covid-19, which they fear could turn into a second wave of infections.
The warning on the risk of a second wave of Covid-19 infections came a day after the World Health Organization (WHO) called on countries to remain vigilant in light of the accelerating spread of Covid-19 in several countries in the world.
Warnings on the risk of a second wave of Covid-19 were issued in Australia, Germany, and England, as well as others. Australia has deployed its military to ensure the smooth implementation of Covid-19 testing programs for its citizens. Germany has imposed regional quarantines on two cities in North Rhine-Westphalia until June 30, following a cluster of new infections appeared at a meat processing plant in that state.
Indonesia has also issued a warning on the accelerated rate of Covid-19 transmissions. The number of new cases of Covid-19 has continued to increase, indicating that the risk of the coronavirus in Indonesia is far from over. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo again called on the public to comply with the health emergency protocols.
I again urge the public to be disciplined in following the advice that we have frequently disseminated.
"It is the people who play a major role in suppressing the number of the new cases and in preventing the spread of Covid-19. Although I have said so repeatedly, I again urge the public to be disciplined in following the advice that we have frequently disseminated: wear masks, wash hands frequently, maintain [safe] distance, and avoid crowds," the President said on Wednesday (24/6/2020) at Merdeka Palace in Central Jakarta.
Government Covid-19 spokesman Achmad Yurianto said that the number of confirmed cases had increased by 1,113 on Wednesday, bringing the country’s cumulative total of confirmed cases to 49,009. The nationwide death toll increased by 38 to 2,573 deaths linked to the disease.
During a meeting with the President, Wiku Adisasmito, the chief of the national Covid-19 task force expert staff, along with task force member Dewi Nur Aisyah, explained that the majority of the 514 regencies/municipalities in Indonesia were vulnerable to the disease, with varying degrees of risk ranging from low to high.
Violators of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) affected by the PP police raid recorded his data before serving a sentence sweeping the sidewalks on Jalan Bekasi Barat, around the Locomotive Market, East Jakarta, Monday (22/6/2020). Compliance with health protocols is expected to enter the transition period of the PSBB.
Warnings
Australia warned of a second wave of Covid-19 infection after it recorded its first death from Covid-19 in more than a month. Chief health officer Brett Sutton of the Victorian Health Department said that the 80-year-old man had died of Covid-19 amid the overnight emergence of 20 new cases in the state.
The man’s death prompted renewed fears about the emergence of a second wave of infection in Australia. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has asked for the military’s help at Covid-19 testing centers in the state.
In Germany, the federal state government of North Rhine-Westphalia imposed a regional quarantine until 30 June on two cities, Guetersloh and Warendorf, following the emergence of a transmission cluster at the Tönnies meat processing plant in Guetersloh.
The two cities are the first areas to be locked down since Germany relaxed restrictions in late April.
Of the 7,000 employees at Tönnies, more than 1,500 have tested positive for Covid-19. German Health Minister Jens Spahn said that the virus could spread quickly if its citizens and government were caught off guard. "If we make it too easy for this virus, it will spread very, very quickly again,” he said.
A number of British medical experts warned about the possibility of a second wave of Covid-19 infections after Prime Minister Boris Johnson decided to lift several restrictions. The British Medical Journal published an open letter to the British government from 16 medical experts who wrote: “While the future shape of the pandemic in the UK is hard to predict, the available evidence indicates that local flare-ups are increasingly likely and a second wave a real risk.”
