JAKARTA, Aug 28 (Jakarta Post/ANN): Over the past few weeks, the government has teased out a plan to change its approach to handling the Covid-19 pandemic; instead of a zero-sum fight against a disease that has infected over four million people and killed more than 130,000 across the country, authorities are now exploring the idea of living with the virus in the long term.
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin told the press on Monday that he was in the midst of formulating protocols for treating the coronavirus as an endemic disease.
The concept of transitioning from a pandemic to an endemic disease – that is, when the virus has a constant prevalence in a population within a geographic area – is seemingly driven by a sense of optimism that the state can go on to mitigate the risks and protect those in need in a predictable manner.
Budi said the government aimed to intensify health-protocol observance, vaccinations and the “3Ts” of testing, tracing and treatment, including by using its PeduliLindungi mobile app and imposing multitiered community activity restrictions (PPKM) until the end of the pandemic.
Outside of the halls of government, however, the 18-month global health crisis has put a heavy strain on regular people, especially the poor and vulnerable, who, in their constant battle to escape starvation, could not care less about living alongside another disease.
Many people have found that the restrictions have caused more difficulties to their economic wellbeing than COVID-19 itself and the changes it has wrought on their daily lives.
Others are fed up with the slow progress of the pandemic response and hope that the country can come out the other side real soon, while also being resigned to the fact that they must comply with the unending health protocols.
“I just hope this hard time will end soon,” said Dherik, a 43-year-old taxi driver operating in and around Jakarta, who has struggled to make ends meet.
These days, at a time when most people in the capital are at home and cabbing opportunities are scarce, Dherik has had to stretch out his earnings over longer periods of time.
“It happens more often that I drink water all day to alleviate my hunger,” he told The Jakarta Post this week.
Before the pandemic, he would have been able to earn hundreds of thousands of rupiah a day on top of meeting the daily minimum target of Rp 650,000 (US$44.85) set by his company.
More recently, he has been unable to even earn Rp 200,000 in a day’s work, even though the taxi company has already lowered its drivers’ minimum target.
“These days, it’s so difficult to get Rp 50,000 in a day. Most of the time we don’t even make any money and instead take it out of our pocket,” the Jakarta native said.
Dherik himself did not think much about catching the virus; it was enough for him to slip on a mask and agree to getting vaccinated.
Now he is more concerned about selling his motorcycle, as he has run out of savings.
“We are hoping this COVID-19 problem ends soon so the economy can recover. We don’t know how long we can survive. All we can do is just pray that this horrible time will pass,” he said.
Hanif, 28, a young mother from Yogyakarta, is struggling to keep her clothes business afloat during the pandemic.
Apart from stalled production due to the closure of textile shops, deliveries also take longer because of the mobility curbs, which in turn have spurred complaints from customers.
“From the beginning of the pandemic, demand just dropped,” she said. Living with Covid-19 is unfathomable for her; Hanif is only concerned about her family’s health, especially since her one-year-old child cannot benefit from any vaccination scheme.
Meanwhile, her husband suffers from asthma, which is likely to get worse if he ever catches the bug. “I hope this all will pass soon,” she said.
“I’m especially concerned about my son, because he has never met another baby since the day he was born.”
A 2020 United Nations report highlighted the pandemic’s impact on women, noting their economic vulnerability due to their overrepresentation in sectors and jobs hardest hit by the Covid-19 outbreak – in manufacturing, textiles and garments, care services, hospitality and tourism – and in employment with the least protections, including in the informal domestic sector and self-employment.
For many of these women, having the choice to live alongside a deadly disease is not a priority.
Experts have warned that there is a lot to prepare before the government can start easing people into the situation where Covid-19 is simply regarded as an endemic disease.
Masdalina Pane of the Indonesian Epidemiologists Association (PAEI) said that to control the pandemic, the government had to set up a roadmap and strengthen its pandemic preparedness and response.
"We have been living with diseases with a potential for outbreaks for thousands of years, so it is not a strange [prospect]. However, the crucial thing is that we must have a roadmap,” she told the Post this week.
In order to build up self-reliance on outbreak control, Indonesia would have to start producing its own test kits, vaccines and personal protective equipment. It would also be necessary to set up a dedicated monitoring agency, akin to the role played by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States.
For Covid-19 to be considered an endemic disease, she said the country would have to bring down case numbers in accordance with parameters set out by the World Health Organisation.
These include recording fewer than 20 daily new cases and fewer than one death per 100,000 people in a given population per week.
Some experts predict this could only happen in Indonesia after next year, when vaccine coverage is widespread and natural immunity can help slow the pace of the outbreak.
“If Indonesia has still not gotten it under control, it may be designated as hyperendemic,” Masdalina said. As of Friday, Indonesia had recorded 12,618 new cases and 599 new deaths. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
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