The Participation of the People is the Key

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Traders at ITC Kuningan, South Jakarta wearing face shields, on Monday (15/6/2020). The first day the mall was opened in Jakarta, the mall manager prepared the Covid-19 prevention protocol and traders who resumed activities with a new normal order.

It has been more than four months since President Joko Widodo announced the first positive case of Covid-19 but until now, the surge in new cases still continues.

In fact, the increasing number of confirmed cases is even more alarming. The highest daily tally occurred on Thursday (2/7/2020) with an additional 1,624 cases. An additional 1,209 new cases were recorded of Monday afternoon.

East Java is now the province with the highest number of Covid-19 cases to surpass Jakarta as the second hardest hit province, followed by South Sulawesi, Central Java, South Kalimantan and West Java. Certainly, it is not an achievement to be proud of, given the number of recovered cases and the fatality rate among Covid-19 patients.

Read also: Information Bias Reduces Vigilance

Although the number of recovered cases continues to increase from its lowest figure of 331 cases on 22 June, it is still fluctuating widely. The highest number of recovered cases was recorded on 2 July with 1,072 cases. This indicates that no suitable treatment or drug therapy has been found to cure the disease.

It is the same with the daily death tally. The lowest number of deaths was 33 on 16 June, a figure that has never been recorded again. In fact, 5 July saw the deaths of 82 people, the highest figure recorded in June and July.

How are we to interpret these figures?

The results of a survey by the Social Resilience Lab of Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU), in cooperation with Laporcovid19.org, could point the way. According to the survey, the public apparently does not understand the risks of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus (Kompas, 6/6/2020). This lack of understanding affects many things. The risk perception is low, with people becoming less vigilant and neglecting the health protocols. This ultimately makes them more susceptible to contracting the disease. Therefore, public engagement is the key to control the spread of Covid-19.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

A security officer stands guard as visitors line up to disinfect their hands before entering the ITC Kuningan mall in South Jakarta on Wednesday (8/4/2020). The Jakarta Provincial Government will implement large-scale social restrictions for 14 days starting on Friday (10/4) to curb the spread of the new coronavirus that causes Covid-19. As long as the PSBB is implemented, eight key sectors will continue to run, including healthcare services, food supply, communication and goods distribution.

On the other hand, the government is not clear in its public communication. It is not very assertive and often uses terms that are inappropriate, which has prompted people to look for information wherever they can. Many people simply swallow raw information from unreliable sources, which makes the information even more biased.

Citizens must also be able to access official sources at any time.

So the improvement must start from the information. Actually, good communication at both the central and regional levels is a real need in the present situation. It is no longer enough to place the responsibility on just the Covid-19 task force. Therefore, the correct and appropriate information should be reiterated from the highest level of government down to the RT/RW (neighborhood/community units) so it reaches every citizen. Citizens must also be able to access official sources at any time.

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Mass Covid-19 testing programs should be intensified further by encouraging more companies to test their employees. Moreover, even multinational companies can become new clusters of contagion. The participation of companies and citizens should be increased with rewards and punishment.

As the World Health Organization (WHO) has stated, only with public engagement, mass testing, and the readiness of health services can we effectively bring Covid-19 under control.