LSI Denny JA Claims 158 Regions In Indonesia Are Ready To Move Towards The New Normality, What Is The Basis?

Indonesian map illustration. (MichaelGaida / Pixabay)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) Denny JA noted that there are 158 regions in Indonesia that are ready to implement new norms in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. Of course, by still implementing health protocols.

With the application of this new normality, it is hoped that the large and small scale business sector will be able to return to operations and the community can return to work to restore the economy.

"On June 5, 2020, Indonesia can return to work gradually in 158 regions from Aceh to Papua. Some of these areas are ready to enter the new normal era," said LSI researcher Denny JA, Ikram Masloman in an online press conference via the Zoom platform, Saturday, 30. May.

He then detailed the five bases for LSI Denny JA, claiming that on June 5, people in hundreds of regions could start implementing the new normal. First, areas that are ready to apply this pattern are, of course, areas where the spread of the virus is controlled.

Ikram then detailed, there are three categories of areas that are ready to implement the new normality from the results of his research. The three categories of regions are 124 areas where the virus has not spread since the beginning, 33 regions have experienced a decrease in cases, and finally Bali province.

The hundreds of these areas consist of dozens of provinces including Papua, West Papua, North Sumatra, NTT, Aceh, Maluku, Southeast Sulawesi, West Kalimantan, and others.

Meanwhile, Bali, continued Ikram, needed to immediately implement the new normal because it was considered capable of dealing with the spread of this virus without implementing Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB).

Second, the implementation of this new normality can be implemented because the handling strategy has changed. In the past, the handling of this virus was top-down, now this control has been actively implemented from the lowest level of organization in society, namely the RT and RW levels.

"Third, the economy must also be grown. Indonesia needs to maintain a balance between physical health and economic health," said the researcher.

The need to grow this economy, said Ikram, must be done immediately. Given, currently there are 2 million people who have experienced layoffs (PHK) according to data released by the Ministry of Manpower (Kemenaker).

Furthermore, this new normality could soon be implemented by getting people back to work with strict health protocols. According to LSI Denny JA, it is impossible for the public to have to wait long for the new COVID-19 vaccine to reactivate the economy. So, making peace with the corona virus feels right.

Moreover, currently the government has issued health protocols in the workplace and businesses through the Ministry of Health. So, the protocol should be a guide for working safely.

Finally, this institution assesses that it is not only Indonesia that will open up the economy in the midst of a pandemic. A number of countries have now done the same thing, for example Malaysia.

According to Ikram, Malaysia has allowed various business sectors to carry out their activities on 4 May. Likewise Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore. "This means that various countries have done the opening of the economy at a time when the pandemic is not over," he said.

Where did the claim data come from?

To obtain data on hundreds of areas that are deemed ready to implement this new normality, Ikram said that his party carried out qualitative research by studying secondary data from three sources.

The data source consists of daily data in 38 areas implementing the PSBB policy belonging to the Task Force for the Acceleration of Handling COVID-19, the Worldometer, and data from the World Health Organization (WHO).

When asked about the absence of studies from epidemiological science, Ikram only said that the existing data had been formulated by many researchers in his institution.

"The empirical data that we collect, of course we have the basis of ontological values which I think many researchers have formulated by LSI, so there is the courage to work on June 5 because it is aligned," said Ikram.

In addition, according to him, the views of the survey results were also widely welcomed by other parties and were of relevance to the current conditions of society in the field.

The new normal cannot be carried out carelessly without a basis

If LSI Denny JA assesses that 158 regions in Indonesia can implement the new normal in the midst of the midst of the midst of the midst of the midst of the midst of the midst of the midst of the midst, epidemiologist from Australia's Griffith University, Dicky Budiman asks the government not to rush into this.

He said the new normalcy could not be carried out in areas where the level of testing for the virus was still low. He even considered that the low level of COVID-19 testing must be taken seriously because it could make controlling the virus difficult.

"The testing coverage area is low, especially with the high positive rate. Don't think about the problem to enforce the new normal," said Dicky.

This is because opening public facilities such as schools or tourist sites in the area will be very dangerous and the low testing coverage will make it difficult to obtain certainty about the severity of the affected areas.

He also reminded that testing is a vital matter in the strategy of dealing with pagebluk. He explained that every action in a pandemic strategy will depend on testing, tracking and isolation. "Without testing, we don't know the real problem in one area, so if the coverage is low, it means we have to do the testing first," he concluded.