The Ministry Of Health's Message: Don't Open The Mask Even If It's Only For A Minute For A Group Photo

Illustration (Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Vaccination of the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi reminded you not to slack off in implementing health protocols including removing your mask, even if it's only for one minute to take a group photo at this time.

"A group photo only takes one minute to remove the mask, even though there is one thing that always lurks when we are careless", she said during a webinar entitled Hoaks, Fakta, Sains, Pejuang Isoman COVID-19, reported by Antara, Saturday, August 7.

Not only do you need to be obedient to wearing masks, including when you are outside the house, you are also reminded to be diligent in washing your hands, keeping your distance, staying away from crowds, and reducing mobility to prevent getting COVID-19 and not to contribute to an increase in cases in the community.

According to Nadia, the spike in COVID-19 cases a few months ago was partly due to the high mobility of people and their neglect of health protocols, such as no longer maintaining a one-meter distance in activities such as meetings, crowding at weddings where there are no restrictions on the number of guests. and eat in restaurants in groups.

"A very significant increase in cases is due to the lack of health protocols plus our high mobility. People are slack with health protocols. Restaurants are busy again, starting to eat not only with family but with friends, meetings without health protocols are no longer 1 meter away", she said.

On the other hand, different from last year, there are now various virus variants due to mutations, one of which is the Delta variant. This variant is more contagious with a 60 percent higher risk of transmission than the Alpha variant of the original virus (which originated in Wuhan, China).

The Delta variant also increases the number of cases requiring treatment, reducing the effectiveness of the vaccine, although currently available vaccines are still effective against viruses, including the Delta variant.

"The Delta variant also spreads more quickly among school children, the CT value is lower if it is positive 16, 20, whereas previously it was 25, 30, 32", said Nadia.

The emergence of this new variant of SARS-CoV-2 is due to the increasing number of infections in a population which then increases the incidence of viral mutations.

"It should also be noted, if more and more infections appear, the virus mutation will increase. That's why the Delta variant appears because so many infections have occurred in India, eventually causing new variants or viruses that are different from the original virus (from China)", said Nadia.

A person affected by COVID-19 generally experiences symptoms of a respiratory tract infection, such as cough, runny nose, fever, body aches, loss of sense of smell and taste, often preceded by diarrhea.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that in two different studies from Canada and Scotland, it was stated that patients infected with the Delta variant were more likely to be hospitalized than patients infected with Alpha or the original strain of the virus.