Reopening schools in yellow zones will increase mobility and the risk of Covid-19 transmission in the community.
By
Ahmad Arif & Caecilia Mediana
·4 minutes read
Kompas/TOTOK WIJAYANTO
Lentera, a grade 4 student at SD Karawaci 11 working on school assignments, assisted by Wahyu, her neighbor, next to her mother\'s street stall on Jalan Imam Bonjol, Karawaci, Tangerang, on Monday (3/8/2020).
JAKARTA, KOMPAS— Reopening schools in yellow zones will increase mobility and the risk of Covid-19 transmission in the community. Without improved testing and contact tracing capabilities, this would make transmission of the virus difficult to control.
Data from the Health Ministry show the number of people being tested on Sunday (9/8/2020) was only 8,992 and 1,893 were found to be positive for Covid-19. This means that the ratio of positive case reached 21 percent or higher than the national average ratio of 12.9 percent.
Meanwhile, according to data from the Jakarta administration, as many as 4,102 people or 46 percent of the people tested nationally on Sunday were Jakarta residents. This shows that the number of tests in Jakarta is still dominant.
According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) last week, the region considered to have met the minimum number of tests was only Jakarta, so its epidemiological criteria could be analyzed. During the last three weeks there had been an increase in the weekly number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Jakarta with the positivity ratio increasing from 5.4 percent to 5.6 percent, and 7.9 percent indicating a high transmission rate.
"Other areas outside Jakarta cannot be analyzed for epidemiological criteria because the testing capacity is not sufficient. As a result, we do not know the scale of transmission in the regions. The situation has become increasingly worrisome with the plan to reopen schools more widely,” said Joko Mulyanto, an epidemiologist at Jenderal Soedirman University, Purwokerto.
Kompas/Priyombodo
A teacher at SD Negeri 05 Pagi Joglo, Kembangan, West Jakarta, teaches in distance learning (PJJ) online by using the school internet, on Tuesday (4/8/2020).
According to Joko, some countries, including in Europe, are planning to reopen schools because it is considered to contribute to driving the economy. European countries currently have very good test and tracing capacities so that, if there is transmission, they can be quickly identified and controlled.
"If we are to reopen schools, the test capacity must be increased, at least complying with WHO requirements, 1 per 1,000 people per week. In addition, 75 percent of the contact history of any case must be found and examined in less than 3 days," he said.
If the reopening of schools continues without massive testing and intensive contact tracing, this could trigger an explosion of cases out of control. Until yesterday, the total positive cases of Covid-19 in Indonesia reached 125,396 with a total of 5,723 deaths, an increase of 65 people from the previous day.
Currently, the number of tests in Indonesia is only about one third of that of the Philippines, which on average have examined around 29,000 people per day. In fact, the population of Indonesia is 2.5 times more than that of the Philippines. Meanwhile, the United States, which currently has 5.1 million cases, can carry out examinations of up to 500,000 people per day.
Strict policy
In response to the pandemic that has not subsided, last week, the Education and Culture Ministry issued an Emergency Curriculum, which is a simplification of the 2013 Curriculum. The policy is optional.
Kompas/AGUS SUSANTO
A teacher talks to his students during an introduction to the school environment at SDN Sukarukun 01, Sukatani District, Bekasi Regency, West Java, on Thursday (16/7/2020).
"This flexibility shows the leniency of the ministry. The National Accreditation Board and the Education Quality Assurance Agency carry out an evaluation of schools that adhere to the national curriculum. If the application is different in each school, then how is the school assessment process this year?" Federation of Indonesian Teachers\' Unions deputy secretary general Satriwan Salim said.
Head of the Research and Development Agency and Books at the Education and Culture Ministry, Totok Suprayitno, explained that the implementation of the Emergency Curriculum is optionally carried out to take into account the conditions of each region or school. This policy will not affect the accreditation of the education unit. (AIK/MED)
