COVID-19 ESSAYS

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new type of disease that has never been previously
identified in humans. The virus that causes COVID-19 is called Sars-CoV-2. Corona virus is a zoonotic
(transmitted between animals and humans). Meanwhile, the animals that are the source of transmission
of COVID-19 are still unknown. Based on scientific evidence, COVID-19 can be transmitted from human
to human through coughing/sneezing droplets. People most at risk of contracting this disease are people
who have close contact with COVID-19 patients, including those caring for COVID-19 patients. Common
signs and symptoms of COVID-19 infection include symptoms of acute respiratory distress such as fever,
cough and shortness of breath. The average incubation period is 5 – 6 days with fever, cough and
shortness of breath. In severe cases, COVID-19 can cause pneumonia, acute respiratory syndrome,
kidney failure and even death.
Indonesia is a developing and fourth most populous country in the world, and thus is expected
to suffer greatly and over a longer period of time. When the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV2 hit China
most severely during the months of December 2019 – February 2020. On 27 January 2020, Indonesia
issued travel restrictions from Hubei province, which was then the epicenter of global COVID-19, while
at the same time evacuated 238 Indonesians from Wuhan. President Joko Widodo reported finding two
cases of COVID-19 infection in Indonesia on 2 March 2020. Patients who were confirmed to have Covid-
19 in Indonesia started from an event in Jakarta where the sufferer came into contact with a foreigner
from Japan living in Malaysia.
This outbreak has been declared a global health emergency. This virus had hampered all human
daily activities. Quarantine alone may not be enough to prevent the spread of this COVID-19 virus, and
the global impact of infection with this virus is one of increasing concern. The Indonesian government
has taken many steps and policies to overcome this pandemic problem. One of the initial steps taken by
the government is to socialize the Social Distancing movement to the community. This step aims to
break the chain of transmission of the Covid-19 pandemic because this step requires people to maintain
a safe distance from other humans of at least 2 meters, not to make direct contact with other people
and avoid mass gatherings. However, in fact these measures were not well-addressed by the
community, so the number of cases continued to increase. Apart from that, the health services in
Indonesia and the existing health human resources in handling the Covid-19 pandemic cases are also
inadequate while cases continue to soar. Based on the background of this paper, the author wants to
see how Indonesia is dealing with the current Covid-19 pandemic.
The potential for a COVID-19 pandemic demands ongoing close surveillance and monitoring to
accurately track and potentially predict future host adaptation, evolution, transmissibility, and
pathogenicity. These factors will ultimately affect mortality and prognosis, so guidelines for the control
and prevention of this disease are urgently needed.
On January 27 2020, the first policy carried out by Indonesia was to issue travel restrictions from
the center of Covid-19, namely Hubei province. At the same time, Indonesia also evacuated 238
Indonesians from Wuhan. After the initial reports of infected cases occurred, Indonesia began to realize
the cruelty of the situation at that time and issued various policies and actions to deal with the Covid-19
pandemic, including appointing 100 public hospitals in the country as Referral Hospitals on March 3
2020. Whereas on March 8 2020 , Indonesia increased the number of Referral Hospitals to 227 to cope
with the increasing number of COVID-19 patients. However, these efforts could not overcome the
problem of the Covid-19 pandemic, because the number of victims continued to increase rapidly.
The Indonesian government also implements social distancing measures for the community and
provides health protocol principles, namely using masks, washing hands/hand sanitizers, keeping
distance/avoiding crowds, increasing endurance, consuming balanced nutrition, managing comorbid
diseases and paying attention to vulnerable groups and lifestyle clean and healthy. However, in reality
many people do not comply with the health protocols given in the face of the co-19 pandemic . Apart
from that, there is also a decision by the President of Indonesia regarding the task force for the rapid
response of Covid-19. At the end of March 2020, the Indonesian Task Force for COVID-19 (Task Force for
the Acceleration of Handling COVID-19) issued Guidelines for Rapid Medical Response and Health
Aspects of Handling COVID-19 in Indonesia. This guide targets medical professionals and the general
public in terms of informing ways to reduce impact and mortality rates. Information includes protocols
for rapid tests using RDTs, laboratory testing, patient management, and outreach/communication tools.
The protocol for rapid testing and laboratory testing recognizes three levels of risk: asymptomatic,
persons under surveillance (ODP/Persons Under Monitoring), and patients under surveillance. This test
involves isolating the suspected person, rapid testing.
Meanwhile, the government's recent policy is PSBB (Large-Scale Social Restrictions). PSBB is
contained in Government Regulation No. 21 of 2020 concerning PSBB in the context of accelerating the
handling of coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Several things were restricted during the PSBB, including
school and workplace activities, religious activities, activities in public facilities, social and cultural
activities, and public transportation operations (RI Ministry of Health, 2020). However, in reality many
people do not comply with existing regulations. Therefore, even though the government has made a lot
of efforts to break the chain of Covid-19, it must be supported and requires more awareness from the
community to jointly break the chain of Covid-19.
One of the government's efforts to minimize the risk of spreading Covid-19 is a lockdown, by
urging people not to leave their homes while carrying out their daily activities. The purpose of the
lockdown is to help a country reduce or minimize the spread of the Covid-19 virus, but it can be bad for
society, both economically and psychologically (mental health). Situations like that can increase
psychological pressure or disruption to mental health, especially for people who care for their mental
health by meeting friends or doing activities outside. Not to mention, those who are forced to be laid off
by the company where they work, due to the impact of the lockdown which has caused many
companies or places of business to close.