Accelerate Covid-19 Screening

KOMPAS/PRIYOMBODO (PRI) 30-03-2020

A man closes a gate with a handmade quarantine banner that restricts entry to ojol (motorcycle taxi and delivery drivers), couriers, buskers and traders to Larangan on Monday (30/3/2020) in Tangerang municipality, Banten. Residential areas have started taking independent measures in an attempt to curb the spread of Covid-19 by restricting entry to all but residents.

After issuing the legal instrument to declare a health emergency to stop the spread of Covid-19, we urgently need to implement mass screening.The government has recently issued Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1/2020 that regulates state finance for managing the Covid-19 outbreak, Government Regulation No. 21/2020 on large-scale social restrictions (PSBB), and Presidential Decree No. 11/2020 on governing the public health emergency of the Covid-19 outbreak, as well as issued Health Ministerial Regulation (Permenkes) No. 9/2020 as a implementation guideline for the PSBB as stipulated in the government regulations and presidential decree.

The President has opted to enact the PSBB as a way to cope with the Covid-19 outbreak in consideration of Indonesia\'s socioeconomic condition. The social restrictions, or maintaining physical distance, are believed to be effective in breaking the chain of transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19. The ministerial regulation provides added clarity on how to implement the PSBB. We also expect further clarity on regional implementation of the PSBB.

All who have been in contact with carriers and the infected must be traced immediately and also isolated.

Following the issuance of the guidelines on PSBB implementation, the government needs to act quickly to screen for people infected with the Covid-19 virus, because not everyone who has contracted the virus shows symptoms of illness.

Rapid mass screening is urgently needed and should be conducted in a wide area using reliable methods, such as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). People who test positive for Covid-19 using the PCR method must be isolated immediately. All who have been in contact with carriers and the infected must be traced immediately and also isolated.

We have learned from other countries that are implementing social restrictions. Massive screening is also being carried out In South Korea, Singapore and the United States, for example, to support the social distancing policies. To Saturday (4/4/2020), according to official government data, only 7,896 samples had been screened using the PCR method. The number is too low for a country with a population of around 270 million.

KOMPAS/JUMARTO YULIANUS

Beberapa orang duduk santai hingga tertidur di kursi terminal penumpang Pelabuhan Trisakti, Banjarmasin, Kalimantan Selatan, Kamis (2/4/2020). Untuk sementara, pelabuhan tersebut ditutup bagi penumpang kapal dalam rangka membatasi arus keluar masuk orang dari luar wilayah Kalimantan Selatan.

We ask the government to focus on managing the Covid-19 outbreak and use the same voice in communicating with the public. The information should not be ambiguous so as to avoid confusing the people.

At present, public anxiety appears to be growing. This can be seen from the objections of local communities to allowing entry to people who have returned home from other areas and the funerals of the people who died of Covid-19, as well their discrimination and stigmatization of health workers and the families of people with Covid-19.

A number of leaders from the village to regional levels have decided to temporarily quarantine recent returnees. This is where the government’s clarity and firmness in regulating the PSBB is vital. We must prevent humanitarian tragedies, such as community and familial rejection of children whose parents have been infected or have died from Covid-19.