JAKARTA - Member of Commission I of the House of Representatives Fadli Zon believes that the government must immediately ask for international assistance in handling COVID-19, which is becoming increasingly out of control. Especially asking for help from countries that have proven successful in overcoming the pandemic.
"Like it or not, we must immediately ask for international assistance. This is a humanitarian issue," said Fadli Zon in his statement, Thursday, July 8.
According to the chairman of the Agency for Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation (BKSAP), there are several reasons Indonesia needs international assistance. First, the record for new cases of COVID-19 has been broken several times in the last two weeks.
"Wednesday, July 7, yesterday, the record number of positive COVID-19 cases has touched 34,379. It's only a matter of time before the record will reach the 40,000 mark, then the 50,000, if we don't take extraordinary steps immediately," he said. Fadli.
Second, the Emergency PPKM policy has not been able to limit community activities. This is because the people feel the need to earn a daily living for their daily needs because the government does not compensate for this limitation.
"Moreover, to this day the government is still opening the doors to airports and ports. Foreign foreign workers from China can still walk in. This situation makes some people feel discriminated against," explained the deputy chairman of the Gerindra Party DPP.
Third, the ability of Indonesia's health infrastructure is already at the threshold. Based on data from the Indonesian Hospital Association (PERSI), currently the bed occupancy of various hospitals in Java has reached 100 percent. Not to mention that many people do isoman in their respective homes.
PERSI also said that the number of active cases had increased in 28 provinces. Plus, there's a dearth of oxygen and cylinders. And there was panic buying for a number of drugs, vitamins, and even milk.
"The current outbreak is still centered in Java, but the spike in the increase in cases, the surge in hospital room occupancy, also occurred outside Java, such as West Kalimantan, Lampung and Riau Islands. If this case continues to increase, the crisis will not only occur at home hospitals in Java, but also in various other provinces outside Java," said Fadli Zon.
Fourth, the health workforce crisis. The number of doctors who have died has exceeded 400 since the start of the pandemic. When combined with nurses and other health workers, the number can reach thousands.
Moreover, the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI), noted that the death rate of health workers in Indonesia is the third highest in the world, even being the highest in Asia.
"If this crisis continues to worsen, we may still be able to open emergency hospitals, but health workers cannot be provided instantly," he said.
Fifth, namely the crisis of vaccine availability. He said, the number of Indonesians who have received vaccines to date is less than about 5 percent. Although the government announced on June 30 that it had received 118.7 million doses of the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines, this number is far from sufficient to vaccinate 181.5 million people, or 70 percent of the population.
"With these reasons, the government must immediately take extraordinary steps and ask for international assistance. Raise the white flag and open arms wide to accept assistance from friendly countries. We urgently need global intervention to reduce the number of victims more," said the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Most importantly, Fadli suggested that President Jokowi take the direct lead in this emergency situation. So that the coordination of one command runs effectively from the center to the regions.
"The handling of COVID-19 in our country will not succeed as long as the implementing officials work in multiple positions," said Fadli Zon.
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