Day: November 22, 2021

Indonesia should be aware of a surge in COVID-19 cases, according to Head of Behavior Change for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force Sonny Harry.

“The worst-case scenario is that cases will increase by around 430 percent until March 1, 2022, if we do not make strict efforts and ease the health protocols and vaccinations do not reach targets and testing and tracing declines,” Harry noted during a webinar accessed here, Monday.

The government has learned that the confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 can spike after the long holidays, such as Eid al-Fitr, Christmas, and New Year, due to an increase in the people’s mobility.

“In addition, the mobility of people, who return from abroad, is a causal factor. We need to increase efforts to conduct screening for those who will enter the country in a bid to prevent transmission of the new COVID-19 variants in Indonesia,” Harry noted.

Earlier, Indonesia had recorded an increase of 398 percent in cases around 13 weeks after the 2020 Christmas and New Year holidays.

After the 2020 Eid al-Fitr holiday that fell alongside the spread of the delta variant in Indonesia, an increase of 900 percent was recorded in eight weeks.

The country succeeded in reducing the count of daily confirmed cases, from 56 thousand to 314 cases in 2.5 months. Meanwhile, the total number of active cases had declined, from its peak, at 547 thousand, to eight thousand.

“One of the reasons why we could do that was since we took a cue from other countries. One of the causes for our cases declining is the implementation of public activity restrictions (PPKM),” he explained.

After the restrictions were eased, the government has continued to tighten health protocols and increase vaccination coverage.

Harry believes staying alert to a likely surge in cases is deemed necessary since several countries are currently experiencing an increase in COVID-19 cases.

“We know that the sub-variant of the delta variant has entered Singapore and Malaysia. This will put us at risk if we do not control COVID-19 transmission,” he remarked.

To keep positive cases of COVID-19 from spiking, especially after Christmas and New Year, the government has tightened screening for people from abroad, abolished Christmas leave, restricted people’s mobility, tightened health protocols and supervised the implementation of policies down to the lowest administrative level. In addition, the COVID-19 vaccination, especially for the elderly, is being intensified.

Source: Antara News

Low immunization coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic can potentially cause extraordinary outbreaks (KLB) of several diseases that can be prevented through vaccination, according to the Health Ministry’s official.

“Low immunization coverage can potentially lead to outbreaks in cases of diseases that can be prevented by immunization,” Director General of Disease Prevention and Control of the Health Ministry Maxi Rein Rondonuwu stated during a hearing meeting with Commission IX of the House of Representatives on Monday.

Until November 2021, some 147 suspected diphtheria reports with 90 specimens were examined in the laboratory, and 23 of them were confirmed, Rondonuwu added.

In addition, 54 cases of measles and 91 cases of rubella were also reported. More than 80 percent of the reports from patients came with incomplete immunization status or unclear vaccination history.

The national immunization program had experienced success in 1980, including the eradication of smallpox, a polio-free certificate in 2006, and the elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus in 2016.

However, complete basic immunization coverage nationwide until October 2021 had only reached 56.5 percent of the target of 78 percent of the population. The provinces of Bengkulu, Banten, South Sumatra, South Sulawesi, and Bangka Belitung recorded the highest immunization coverage.

Complete basic immunizations for children include Hepatitis B, BCG, Polio, and DPT.

“There is a decline in immunization coverage from 2019 to 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the difference in immunization numbers before the pandemic is not too big,” Rondonuwu pointed out.

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin had requested a survey to monitor national immunization coverage annually. The program is proposed since the periodic surveys every five years had not provided an accurate result of the achievement.

Several challenges encountered during the implementation of the immunization program during the pandemic comprised the procurement of vaccines that was hampered by distribution to districts and cities due to vaccine storage warehouses in the regions being full.

“Procurement of the COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines for immunization will be conducted together to avoid overcapacity at the warehouse,” Rondonuwu remarked.

In addition, health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic tended to concentrate on handling COVID-19 patients. The pandemic condition also compelled the integrated health services posts (Posyandu) to close down.

“People with doubts about vaccines and in remote areas also pose a challenge for us in expediting immunization coverage,” he added.

Rondonuwu ensured that the Health Ministry had readied a strategy to overcome all these challenges. One of the approaches was the involvement of the Indonesia Defense Forces (TNI) and National Police (Polri) to penetrate remote communities as well as to edify about vaccination for the community.

The agenda of the DPR Commission IX Hearing Meeting was attended by the Director General of Disease Prevention and Control of the Ministry of Health, the Director General of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices at the Ministry of Health, the board of the Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI), the board of the Indonesia Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (Itagi), and Indonesian Association of Gynecological Oncology (HOGI).

The meeting discussed the implementation of the regular vaccination program, developments pertaining to the discussion on the national immunization program for PCV, HPV, and Rotavirus, as well as preparations for the 2021 Students Immunization Month Program (BIAS).

Source: Antara News

The Mukomuko District Health Office, Bengkulu Province, received an additional 21,060 COVID-19 vaccine doses of Pfizer for the elderly, public service officers, and general public in this area.

“We have received another 21,060 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine since a few days back, and all of these are Pfizer brands,” Jajad Sudrajad, head of the infectious disease eradication and environmental health office of the Mukomuko District Health Office, noted in a statement received here on Monday.

Sudrajad remarked that some of the 21,060 vaccine doses of the Pfizer brand had been distributed to several health centers in the sub-districts of Air Rami and Ipuh.

He explained that the locations were selected since several of these public health centers were located far from the local district capital and their officers routinely conducted COVID-19 vaccinations in their respective areas.

Sudrajad also confirmed that his side had distributed the vaccines to 15 other health centers in the area.

Some of the vaccines became supply to be used during mass vaccinations being conducted, whether by his administration or other agencies in this area, he revealed.

Sudrajad stated that the remaining Pfizer vaccine doses were for the district’s stock that was used to conduct mass COVID-19 vaccination activities hosted by the national defense force and police force as well as local hospitals.

Sudrajad affirmed that his administration could not store COVID-19 vaccines in large quantities due to the office’s limited capacity.

On the other hand, health workers at 17 public health centers in the area routinely conducted COVID-19 vaccinations in their respective regions.

Indonesia has been actively striving to inoculate its citizens. The government aims to vaccinate 80 percent of the population by the end of 2021, and recently, they are also focusing on inoculating children under the age of 12 years.

Source: Antara News

The government of Batu city, East Java province, has begun to rebuild and repair residents’ homes which were damaged by flash floods on November 4, 2021.

“Currently, we are renovating the mildly, moderately, and severely damaged houses,” Deputy Mayor of Batu city, Punjul Santoso, informed here on Monday.

At least 31 houses in the city had suffered damage in the floods.

Furthermore, eight houses had drifted away in the flood, Santoso said.

For owners of the homes that drifted away who already have an empty plot of land at another location, the government will soon build a replacement house on the plot, he informed.

Five of the residents have prepared their own land, he said.

“Meanwhile, for those who do not own any land, we will buy them land first and build their house later,” the deputy mayor added.

Furthermore, volunteers and Batu city flash flood mitigation team are working on the renovation and construction of the houses, he said.

“Apart from the local community, the volunteers also come from Ngantang sub-district, Malang district; Ngawi district; and Banyumas district. It aims to help the victims to return to their houses soon,” he added.

The materials to build the houses will be obtained using aid funds channeled through the Batu City Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), he disclosed.

“My previous land is located down below. Hence, I do not dare to build a house there anymore,” said Riyanto, one of the residents affected by the disaster. His new 6×6 meters house is currently under construction.

According to Batu city BPBD, the flash flood caused heavy damage to 12 houses, moderate damage to 5 houses, and mild damage to 14 houses.

It also washed away 46 two-wheeled vehicles and 11 four-wheeled vehicles as well as destroyed 9 cattle sheds, resulting in the loss of hundreds of livestock, officials said.

In addition, the disaster affected agricultural land in Sumbergondo, Sidomulyo, Bumiaji, Pandanrejo, Torongrejo, Giripurno, and Bulukerto villages, they added.

Source: Antara News