COVID-19 Soars, KPAI: Stops Face-to-Face Learning Trials And Delays School Opening

JAKARTA - The addition of positive cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia continues to occur, even showing an increasing trend in the last few days. The spike in COVID-19 cases in Indonesia after the Eid holiday is thought to be due to a mutation of the Delta variant virus from India.

The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) highlighted this. Moreover, the ICU room for pediatric patients is very minimal. Indonesia's child mortality rate is also the highest in the world due to COVID-19.

Based on data from the COVID-19 Task Force, nationwide positive confirmed cases increased by 13,737 on Sunday, June 20. The total number of positive cases of Covid-19 in Indonesia is 1,989,909 cases. Of this number, 12.5 percent of those infected with COVID-1-19 are children.

KPAI is concerned that the number of children exposed to COVID-19 is increasing rapidly. Moreover, face-to-face schools will begin to open simultaneously in July.

Therefore, KPAI encourages the central government and local governments to immediately stop the Face-to-Face Learning (PTM) trials in several areas where the positivity rate is above 5 percent.

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KPAI recommends that the central government and local governments postpone the opening of schools in the new academic year 2021/2022 which starts on July 12, 2021.

"Given the very high cases and the positivity rate in some areas is above 5 percent, some even reach 17 percent. This condition is very unsafe to open face-to-face schools", said KPAI Commissioner Retno Listyarti in Jakarta, Tuesday, June 22.

KPAI requested that the policy for opening face-to-face schools in Indonesia not be uniform. For example, for areas with a positivity rate below 5 percent, KPAI encourages face-to-face schools to be opened by implementing strict health protocol/SOPs.

"In small islands where signals are difficult, we recommend opening them with the same provisions as stated by President Jokowi, PTM is only 2 hours, only 25 percent of students attend and only 1-2 times a week", explained Retno.

KPAI urges the central government and local governments according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to prioritize the right to life number 1, right to health number 2, and right to education number 3.

"If the child is still healthy and alive, then the subject matter can still be caught up. If the child has been educated and continues to get sick and die, it's useless. Moreover, the number of Indonesian children who have died due to COVID-19, according to IDAI data, is already the highest in the world", she explained.

KPAI also encourages the central government and regional governments to provide NICU and ICU facilities specifically for COVID for pediatric patients.

"The absence of ICU and NICU rooms in various regions in Indonesia makes it difficult for pediatric patients who are positive for COVID-19 to be saved when their condition is critical", said Retno.