The Key To Germany's Success In Facing The COVID-19 Pagebluk: Speed Of The Government

JAKARTA - The Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Germany Arif Havas Oegroseno said that the key to the success of the German state in dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak is speed since the first case.

In addition, Germany has never underestimated this virus and called it just the common cold, so a number of policies can be taken quickly, including locking their territory.

"The policy was carried out quickly, so when the first case was detected at that time a crisis team was formed. Then there was no attitude that underestimated COVID in Germany," said Arief in his presentation which was broadcast on the BNPB YouTube account, Saturday, May 30.

He said the German government had also set a firm policy. This is evidenced by the presence of officers who broke up parties in pubs when the key policy was adopted.

This success, continued Arief, also happened because the German government took clear policies, used language that was easily understood by the people, and was immediately implemented by the community. In addition, German citizens also have a high level of discipline so that the spread of this virus can be controlled.

Not only that, Arief also said that Germany's victory against this virus also occurred due to good coordination between the central and regional governments. He said that Germany is a federal state with a hierarchy of different mandates. However, when this virus hit, everything was compact against the COVID-19 outbreak.

The central and state governments in Germany, he continued, coordinate with each other and carry out an evaluation of handling this virus every two weeks. After the evaluation is carried out, the government will then openly convey the steps to handle COVID-19 in front of the public.

"So there is similarity, consistency from the central government and also the government in the states," he said.

Furthermore, Arief explained, another thing that made Germany able to control this pagebluk was the ready health infrastructure. He explained that Germany currently has 2,000 hospitals with 28,000 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds.

Furthermore, they also have as many as 35 thousand ventilators and this figure is quite high compared to other European countries.

"This is a very valuable lesson and of course Indonesia, maybe other countries around the world can carry out more in-depth analysis in the field of health infrastructure, investment in the development of vaccine technology and also investment in other fields," said Arief.

Seeing Germany's success, Arif hopes to become a reference for Indonesia in dealing with Covid-19. "Hopefully the policies carried out by the German government and its impacts can become a reference for all of us in dealing with the corona virus in Indonesia," he concluded.