#COVID19 Indonesia kuchukua hatua za dharura kukabiliana na ongezeko la maambukizi ya Corona

[beth]

Kufuatia ongezeko kubwa la maambukizi ambalo limepeleka Sekta ya Afya kulemewa, Rais Joko Widodo amesema Indonesia itachukua hatua za dharura ili kukabiliana na hali ya mlipuko.

Kirusi Delta ambacho kilisababisha ongezeko kubwa la maambukizi India mwezi Aprili na Mei kimetajwa kusambaa katika Taifa hilo lililorekodi visa 2,178,272 na vifo 58,491 hadi sasa.
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President Joko Widodo said on Thursday that Indonesia will bring in emergency measures running until July 20 aimed at containing an exponential spike in coronavirus cases that has strained the country's medical system.

There has been a near vertical climb in virus cases in the world's fourth most populous nation in recent weeks, prompting health experts to warn that the outbreak could be as bad as India's devastating second wave if tighter measures are not introduced.

"With cooperation from all of us and the grace of God, I'm certain that we can suppress COVID-19 transmission and restore people's lives quickly," said the president, who is usually known as Jokowi, as he announced the stricter measures.

The measures, which will start on Saturday, aim to halve the current number of daily virus cases to below 10,000, and include tighter restrictions on movement and air travel, a ban on restaurant dining and closure of non-essential offices, according to a government document.

They will be applied on the most populous island of Java and on the tourist island of Bali. Further details of the measures will be announced by Indonesia's minister for maritime affairs and investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, later on Thursday, officials said.

Grappling with the worst outbreak in Southeast Asia, Indonesia has reported a series of record daily COVID-19 cases since mid-June, with the 21,807 new cases on Wednesday, its biggest daily increase.

Indonesia has recorded 2,178,272 cases overall, among the highest number in Asia, and 58,491 deaths.

Up to now, Jokowi has been reluctant to bring in measures that might hit the economy and news of the curbs wiped out gains on Indonesia's main stock index (.JKSE) that had earlier been up as much as 0.9%.

The highly transmissible Delta variant that caused a spike in cases in India in April and May, overwhelming healthcare facilities and swamping crematoriums, is spreading in Indonesia.

Hospitals across the crowded, main island of Java are being pushed to the brink. In Jakarta, some emergency wards have been moved to tents erected in hospital car parks to free up isolation rooms, while residents have formed queues to buy oxygen tanks for relatives being treated at home.

The bed occupancy rate in the city's hospitals hit 93% this week, with hospitals across Java also edging toward full capacity.

'EMERGENCY BY NAME ONLY'

But public health experts have questioned whether the proposed measures go far enough.

"The current proposals are 'emergency' by name only, but they don't respond to an emergency situation," said Dr Dicky Budiman, an epidemiologist at Griffith University in Queensland.

From outside Java, others experts questioned how effective the selective emergency measures would be.

"If the government is half-hearted it will just remain the same," said Defriman Djafri, an epidemiologist at Andalas University in Padang on Sumatra island.

What was needed, he said, was: "Two weeks total lockdown, no outside activities and no contact, people must stay at home.

Rather than implement a national lockdown, Indonesia has instead opted for localised restrictions in designated "red zones", a move the president previously said was designed to avoid "killing" the economy.

As tougher restrictions are expected to be announced, Mercy Corps Indonesia has expressed concern over the already "dire situation".

“Hospitals are overflowing, around one in five tests in Indonesia are reportedly coming back positive, and we’re experiencing more deaths now than at any point of the pandemic so far,” said Ade Soekadis, Mercy Corps’ country director for Indonesia.

"Worryingly, as we’ve seen in India and Nepal, we know it’s only going to get worse."

Source: Reuters

 

[Suley2019]

Rais wa Indonesia Joko Widodo ametangaza "vizuizi vya dharura" kwenye kisiwa chaJava na kisiwa cha utalii cha Bali kufuatia kuongezeka mlipuko wa COVID-19 ambao unadaiwa kusababisha vifo na watu wengi kulazwa. Katika hotuba yake Widodo alisema kizuizi hicho kitaanza rasmi Jumamosi ya tarehe 03 hadi Julai 20.

Aidha, inaelezwa kauli hiyo ya serikali kuweka vizuizi inalenga kupunguza kesi za Covid-19 ambazo zimekuwa zikifikia 10,000 kwa siku. Zuio hilo litajumuisha watu wakati Shule na Vyuo Vikuu kuendelea kufungwa.
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Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has announced “emergency restrictions” on the archipelago’s most populous island of Java and the tourist island of Bali as a second wave of COVID-19 infections drives rates of hospitalisation and deaths to record highs.
In a televised address on Thursday, Widodo said the measures will begin on Saturday and last until July 20.

“This situation requires us to take more decisive steps so that we can together stem the spread of COVID-19,” he said.
The details of the measures will be announced later in the day, he added.

Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s worst-hit nation with new cases topping 21,000 every day. The surge has overwhelmed hospitals and resulted in a shortage of oxygen in the capital, Jakarta.

A government document said the new restrictions aim to cut daily cases to below 10,000, and will include work-at-home orders for all non-essential sectors and the continued closure of schools and universities.

The document also said public amenities like beaches, parks, tourist attractions and places of worship must close, while restaurants can offer only take away or delivery services. Constructions sites can continue operating as normal, however.

Udayana University Professor Gusti Ngurah Mahardika, a virologist on the island of Bali where the number of daily confirmed cases have more than quadrupled in two weeks, said the proposed restrictions were not enough.

“I have seen the new emergency measure but I am sceptical. We need a lockdown but the problem is there is just no money to keep people at home,” he said.

On Wednesday, Indonesia recorded 21,807 new infections and 467 deaths, with more than three-quarters of new cases reported on Java. That brings the country’s overall caseload to 2,178,272 and deaths to 58,491 – a toll among the highest in Asia.
Infectious disease experts say modelling suggested Indonesia’s true daily infection rate is at least 10 times higher than the official count.

“The problem in Indonesia is that testing rates are very low because only people who present themselves at hospitals with symptoms receive free tests. Everyone else has to pay,” said Dr Dicky Budiman, an epidemiologist who has helped formulate the Indonesian Ministry of Health’s pandemic management strategy for 20 years.

“Based on the current reproduction rate in Indonesia that has climbed from 1.19 in January to 1.4 in June, I estimated there at least 200,000 new cases in the country today. But if I compare that with modelling by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle, it is much higher, about 350,000 new infections per day. That’s as high as India before the peak.”

A virologist in Java advising the Ministry of Health, who spoke to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media, said the virus spread so quickly because many Indonesians exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 prefer to stay home.

“When we see the hospitals full with patients it’s only the tip of the iceberg because only 10 to 15 percent of sick people in Indonesia go to hospitals. The rest will stay at home and self-remedy because they prefer to stay with their family,” the virologist said.

“This has happened since the start of the pandemic but with the Delta variant now becoming dominant it’s a much more serious problem because the secondary infection rate in households for the Delta variant is 100 percent. That means if one member of a household is infected, they all get infected. But as their symptoms become worse and people experience trouble breathing, we expect many more people will come to hospitals, like what we saw in India.”

Chanzo: Al Jazeera