by: Dr Pribakti B, SpOG (K) *)
Currently, there is an impression that the spread of Covid-19 in Indonesia is getting out of control. All parties looks like about to give up, and the government spread a false sense of security by promising that the epidemic will end soon if Indonesia produces a vaccine.
In fact, the coronavaccine is still in the clinical trial stage, and the chances of success and failure are the same. If it passes the test, it’ll take sometime to distribute and then inject it to millions people in Indonesia.
Right now the corona virus has surrounded us and it feels like death grinning toward us. The virus prying on our bloodcells, and when we let our guard down it’ll destroy our cells by using it’s crown-pointed tip. When the armies of our blood fail to fight against it, the virus will come out as the victor and sacrifice many people. Countries which struggling to face Corona then became a registrars and act like a statistical machines, where human life is just a number.
Just numbers! Humans are released from their existential values and reduced to data. There are no more emotions, except helplessness to accept reality. The data were publish coldly everyday, such as the coronavirus cases, the death cases, the recovered cases, and th enumber of people which being monitored. We read the data with a heavy feelings inside our heart. It’s sad because no one can guarantee that they are free from corona virus because the virus is invisible and always milling around us.
Tragically, when many people fell, coronavirus will celebrated it’s victory. It wrote narratives about death on the graves of human’s bad luck. We read the narrative of death, we got the message: coronavirus never shrinks from challenging us.
This new type of Corona virus is bringing human beings across the globe to face the invisible life-grabber. Until now, there are no confirmed drugs and vaccines to treat or prevent the development of the virus. The increase in death cases continues to be broadcast and continuously updated by various television stations and social media.
The image of death entered the minds of people who were not even infected. Human were asked to stay at home, cover their mouths and prohibited from touching. Panic, restlessness and anxiety overwhelm our soul when the epidemic come to our city or neighborhood. Is it going to be our turn soon? Can we survive? Can we positively anticipate this tense situation? This question remain in our mind, unsaid.
Therefore, there is no other way except to fight back by removing the narrative of the death by the coronavirus. It is because when we choose to be alive is far more noble and honorable than to give up and being torn apart by the virus. To live is a way to build a culture and civilization which cannot be stopped by anything and anyone, including the corona bastard. We choose the way of life to save the generation which will continue our history, the history of mankind. We believe that every crisis always brings a change for good, because humans are able to answer it with their intelligence and innovation.
The fight against virus is a total battle, a battle of life and death. An attitude of humility, not being greedy to dominate nature and always maintaining the ecology of life deserves to be used as a foundation. In this way, we allow the virus to leave our habitat. Regional leaders must have an attitude to show their partiality, and siding for public safety is the highest law.
If this principle is upheld without the problem of personal political rivalries, this nation will be able to go through difficult times. Maybe we can follow the South Korea’s strategy of trace, test and treat as an example. But whatever the strategy is, the direction must be centered on breaking the chain of transmission.
What must be done now is how to support medical personnel in fulfilling their protective equipment. How can the health system able to sustain it system if infected cases increased a lot. The poor way the government handled the covid-19 pandemic played a major role in the high mortality rate for health professionals in Indonesia. The story of the procurement of personal protective equipment is only one example of the weakness of crisis management in handling this outbreak.
Indeed, the high mortality of health personnels (on September 1, 2020 is around 181- mostly doctors) can be driven by many factors. Apart from inadequate personal protective equipment, there are other factors such as lacck of rest, the doctors’ health condition, and insufficient medical capacity in this country. But the right and smart policies should prevent the situation from getting worse. After all, there are many examples of other countries that can implement health policies well.
It is no exaggeration to conclude that not only the virus, but bad government policies also have contributed to the deaths of more than a hundred health professionals. Losing doctors and medical personnel in the midst of an epidemic like now is heartbreaking. This situation must end immediately and then build a social movement which fosters the spirit of mutual cooperation.
Compassion must be shown to health professionals who risk their lives for humanity, compassion for those who get affected by this pandemic. Indeed, the existence of the nation state were tested by the covid-19. This plague is like a marathon, not a sprint. In order to be safe, the government cannot just rely on momentary moves. If the government does not immediately rear the guard, we will collapse in the middle of the long war against the corona virus.
*) Doctor of Ulin Banjarmasin Hospital, South Kalimantan
