Ministry Of Health: COVID-19 In Indonesia Is Under Control

ILLUSTRATION PHOTO VIA BETWEEN

JAKARTA - Head of the Bureau of Communication and Public Services of the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, stated that the public health emergency status which was immediately revoked by the government marked that COVID-19 in Indonesia was more under control, even though the disease had not disappeared.

"Now, the pandemic in Indonesia has dropped. From the eyes of the epidemiological definition, it has dropped to an endemic," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, June 15.

He said the indicators of the COVID-19 situation in Indonesia are now more under control, localized, but it is still a disease problem in Indonesia that needs to be addressed.

Reporting from the daily COVID-19 report in Indonesia today, the number of active cases decreased by 53 cases out of a total of 9,974 cases, confirmed cases increased by 179 cases out of a total of 6.81 million cases more than March 2020.

The number of confirmed cases is far from the safe threshold set by the World Health Organization (WHO) reaching 8,000 daily cases in Indonesia.

Nadia said that the current condition of COVID-19 in Indonesia is no longer a worrying disease, so it can be aligned with other infectious diseases, such as HIV, syphilics and others.

Health science expert who is also the Postgraduate Director of YARSI University Prof. Tjandra Yoga Aditama said Indonesia would immediately announce that COVID-19 is no longer a public health emergency, but there are a number of things that each individual needs to mean in response to this policy.

"Members of the public need to know what still needs to be done. In connection with policies, the use of masks in public transportation and public spaces is no longer mandatory," he said.

Tjandra, who is also Professor of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia (FKUI), recommends wearing masks when entering a room that is at risk of contracting air disease.

"If you are sick in any type of respiratory tract, then it's better to wear a mask not to infect other people," he said.

For people living in high-pollution areas, said Tjandra, masks are still very much needed to prevent respiratory diseases.

" handwashing should of course continue because it can prevent the transmission of various diseases, not just COVID-19," he said.

"If someone is suspected of being sick, immediately check himself so that the diagnosis is clear and then the handling is clear," said Tjandra.

Tjandra advised the government to continue to carry out COVID-19 surveillance, both case detection and death as well as genomic biomolecular surveillance so that it can be detected immediately if new variants appear.

"Research and development of medical and health science in the field of COVID-19 also needs to continue to be supported by the government," he said.

What is even more important, said Tjandra, is that government policies in general must continue to provide an important portion for health, especially promotive preventive activities.