The situation is dire, folks. Epidemiologists and many volunteer groups have warned the government several weeks ago that we were going to be in this situation when India was having their major spikes back in April-May but it seemed that they ignored those calls due to the reduction in cases and hospital ged occupancy rates. Well, they were warned, for real, and yet, here we are.
Healthcare System Collapsing
With over 300,000 confirmed active cases (the real number is of course many times higher), hospitals and clinics are struggling to keep up with the influx of people in need of healthcare. Some hospitals had to erect tents to treat Covid-19 patients because they ran out of isolation beds while others had to treat Covid-19 patients in hallways and corridors.
Isolation beds are in such high demand, many people had to go to several different hospitals before they received proper treatment. These were the lucky ones. One patient in Central Java died after being turned down by nine hospitals.
Watchdog LaporCovid-19 recorded at least 265 cases where patients with severe symptoms died at home because they couldn’t find any hospital that would accept them.
Another big concern is oxygen availability. At around 8pm on Saturday, Yogyakarta’s Sardjito public hospital ran out of oxygen tanks while supplies only came the following morning. As a result, 63 patients were reported died that night. However, the hospital published a clarification saying that there were 33 patients who died between 8pm and the morning and that they managed to get them oxygen but the patients were unfortunately beyond help.
Oxygen tanks are so in demand, some hospitals require patients to bring their own. People had to queue for hours at oxygen tank refilling stations. Some people in Lampung even assaulted an orderly working at a clinic after he refused to give them the clinic’s oxygen tank.
Despite all this, Health Ministry spokesperson Dr Siti Nadia Tarmizi denied that our healthcare system had collapsed as some experts had suggested during a press conference. She later told Tempo: “collapsed no, overcapacity yes”.
Emergency Public Activity Restrictions Enforcement
For the past one week, we have been breaking records for both daily confirmed cases and additional deaths almost every day. Epidemiologists and concerned citizens have been calling for a lockdown and the government responded by enacting the Emergency Public Activity Restrictions Enforcement (what a mouthful) or PPKM Darurat.
Although cases are also rising in other provinces, the restrictions only apply in Java and Bali between July 3 and 20 due to the severity of the situation. However, looking at the trend right now, you can be sure that they’ll extend it.
Under the regulation, offices outside of the critical and essential sectors must have their entire workforce work from home. Houses of worship, public parks, recreational areas throughout Java and Bali must also close. Long distance travel to and from Java and Bali requires vaccination certificate and negative PCR test for air travel and negative antigen test for buses, trains, and ships.
Jakarta is taking one step further though by effectively closing off major streets in the city center as well as roads connecting the city and its suburbs. The city is also requiring people intending to cross its borders to apply for travel documents.
The policy looks good on paper and managed to turn areas like Thamrin and Sudirman into a ghost town. But this led to mayhem in roads where checkpoints had been erected, affecting not only those with no legitimate excuse to travel, but also those who do: like medical workers and those working in the exempted sectors.
Promises, Promises
The government promised many things when they announced the Emergency PPKM. They promised to address oxygen shortages, bed shortages, and lack of testing. The government said they aim to trace 15 contacts per positive patients, boost the number of people tested from 100k to 500k and get the positive rate down to WHO accepted 5%. Right now we are testing like 3-4 people per positive case and our overall positive rate is between 25% and 45%.
Couldn’t they have done that sooner? Apparently no… because the Minister of Everything, who is BTW leading the implementation of Emergency PPKM, said, “frankly we did not predict that there would be a spike.” Seriously? Even after like every expert and epidemiologist out there predicting that Indonesia will turn into the next India?
The government also plans to expedite the vaccination drive. Last week, President Joko Widodo set a target of one million Covid-19 vaccination doses per day for July and two million daily doses for August and the military was recruited in to help run vaccination drives across several cities and regions to reach that goal. In Jakarta they turned the GBK Stadium into a vaccination center. We’re just hoping there’s no vaccination clusters.
The BPOM even approved Sinovac for vaccinating 12-17 year-olds. The same agency also approved Moderna just as the US government promised to donate four million doses of the Moderna vaccine. Australia also promised to give A$77 million to buy vaccines from Covax while Japan is donating 2.1 million AstraZeneca vaccines.
For a few days we surpassed the target but then we quickly slid back down again. Here’s a chart:
Quick Reads
More Stringent Rules for International Arrivals
Basically the same as December-April but with vaccination requirements and costs not covered by gov’t. Also, eight days mandatory quarantine, instead of five previously, with additional 14 days at home suggested. Still short of WHO advice of 14 days mandatory quarantine upon arrival.
Depok’s Mayor Idris has decreed that all Muslim civil servants must now recite the Quran together online and complete it once a week. Those of other religions are instructed to read their own scriptures in the same manner.
Dozens of people had to be rescued after a ferry bound from Lombok took on water and sunk at Bali's Gilimanuk Port on Tuesday. Search and Rescue teams will end their operations if they cannot recover more victims after today.
You might be wondering why we are QRT-ing people looking for blood donors, hospital beds, and promoting people’s online businesses.
Well… that’s because we realize that this Emergency PPKM is sure to affect everyone and we want to help those affected by the pandemic and have to start an online business or find work or those in need of urgent medical attention or starting charities. Just helping spread the work.
We’re all in this together.