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From Pariah to Paragon: Indonesia’s Covid-19 handling becomes the world’s envy

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From Pariah to Paragon: Indonesia’s Covid-19 handling becomes the world’s envy

Indonesia’s caseload during the second wave
Indonesia’s feat is actually quite astonishing. In July, the World Health Organization (WHO) included Indonesia as one of the 24 countries that
experienced a sharp spike in Covid-19 cases, as several variants in the virus such as Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta ripped through the community. The Delta variant in particular is notorious for its virulence and severity, due to its capability to evade a vaccine-derived immune system. Major media from the U.S., such as the New York Times, even told of an apocalyptic situation in Indonesia, then the new global epicenter of Covid-19, even surpassing India where Delta is thought to have originated. For two consecutive days in July, the number of cases in Indonesia skyrocketed to 50,000 a day. The number of deaths also soared accordingly, as hospitals everywhere were overwhelmed. At around the same time, other countries in Southeast Asia also saw their caseload surge, as Delta spread uncontrollably.

The impact was crippling. Many countries issued travel bans for Indonesian nationals. The Philippines, for instance, shut its door to Indonesian travelers between July 16-31, 2021. Singapore also imposed restrictions on tourists who within the previous 21 days had visited Indonesia. Transiting passengers from Indonesia were also temporarily denied. The United Arab
Emirates (UAE) suspended fights from Indonesia, except for connecting fights to and from Indonesia. Indonesians were banned from entering
Hong Kong from June 25. The Hong Kong government put Indonesia into an A1 (high risk) category. Saudi Arabia has barred international fights from Indonesia since February 2021, due to fear of more contagious variants detected in the country. Oman is another Gulf country that imposed an entry ban on Indonesia and anyone with a travel history to Indonesia in the past 14 days, effective since July 9, 2021. Indonesia was also included in Bahrain’s “red list”.

From Pariah to Paragon: Indonesia’s Covid-19 handling becomes the world’s envy

European countries, especially those part of the Schengen zone, also deny entry for Indonesians and citizens of other countries with a travel history from Indonesia. Japan’s travel ban for Indonesian travelers has been in place since April this year, while Taiwan has imposed a ban on the entry of migrant workers from Indonesia since December 2020.

But after a dramatic decline in Covid-19 cases in Indonesia, the list of countries lifting their travel restrictions to Indonesian arrivals is growing. Other than the US and UK, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Switzerland and Brazil have also allowed fully-vaccinated visitors from Indonesia to enter their territory. (GRAPH-2)

The Covid-19 situation in Indonesia from end of 2020 to July 2021 was very worrying. Cumulative cases crossed the 2 million mark as of June 21, 2021. Positivity rate increased sharply in December 2020 and by end of January 2021 reached 28.8%, then fuctuated between 9% to 20% in mid-March. From June to August, community transmission level was stubbornly high. The peak came in mid-July where Indonesia saw the highly virulent Delta “tsunami” ripped through the community, pushing its caseload through the roof and earning it a pariah status in the global community.

But since August 14, 2021, new cases have been on a decline, stabilizing below 30,000. Indonesia managed to fatten the curve. In the past month, the positivity rate has been low: below 2%. According to WHO, a positivity rate can be used as guidance when the target of testing one in 1,000 population per week is achieved. Between October 11-17, only one province in Indonesia reported moderate community transmission, namely, North Kalimantan (32.4 per 100,000 people). This means that there is still a risk of transmission in the general public and local transmission within the last 14 days. The other 33 provinces, by contrast, are now classified in Tier 1 of the Public Activity Restrictions (PPKM). Meanwhile, neighboring countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan are in the grip of a third wave.

This success has been acknowledged by the CDC, which put Indonesia at Level 1 (Low) of its four-tier risk assessment level on October 25. This means US citizens can travel to Indonesia, on the condition that they are fully vaccinated and observe health protocols.

According to official reports, Indonesia’s positivity rate is now below WHO guidance: under 5%. Based on the Covid-19 Task Force, as of September 6, the positivity rate was 4.43%, the lowest since March 2020, when the novel coronavirus was first detected in Indonesia.

The Indonesian government’s strict, double-pronged measures of health protocol enforcement and mass vaccination campaign have been key to taming the virus. Its Covid curb strategy, known as PPKM, has been widely lauded as a success. The government’s vaccination efforts and strategy of allocating 50% of doses to areas with high cases and people’s mobility, increasing the number of vaccination centers, enforcing vaccine “passports” for entry into public places, and accelerating the vaccination rate have borne fruit. (GRAPH-3)

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