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Humanity shines
With little guidance, people have worked together to organize fundraisers, sought medical supplies and equipment and arranged for the supply of hand washing facilities and disinfectants.
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Keep us clean: A man disinfects himself in a disinfectant chamber in Blok M, South Jakarta, on Tuesday, March 24. The chamber was installed by charity organization Dompet Dhuafa to curb the spread of COVID-19. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
T
hough accustomed to disasters, Indonesians are generally clueless in the face of this pandemic. Unlike a flood or an earthquake, from which we can run to seek shelter, now there is nowhere to run. The risk of contagion, we’re told, comes not just from others sneezing, but our own hands – which we must wash continuously.
With the central government’s rather confusing policies and the health system buckling as confirmed and suspected cases of COVID-19 steadily rise, people are again looking to their closest sources of help – their communities, neighbors and volunteers. It was only on Tuesday afternoon that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo finally announced a government regulation on large-scale social restrictions and a presidential decree on the nationwide health emergency status based on the Health Quarantine Law.
With little guidance, people have worked together to organize fundraisers, sought medical supplies and equipment and arranged for the supply of hand washing facilities and disinfectants. Universities and creative designers are coming up with new low-cost protective equipment for frontline health workers, including those tasked with conducting rapid tests, who are armed with only masks to protect themselves from exposure to the virus.
This widespread solidarity and gotong royong (mutual assistance) is uplifting and, as the experts say, is likely an “immunity booster” against this novel coronavirus, as people figure out together how to survive. In this difficult time, humanity shines. It is also encouraging amid the ugly signs of stigma against people, alive or dead, who are known or believed to have contracted the virus. In Medan, North Sumatra, a deceased man was finally buried at midnight Wednesday after locals, believing he had contracted the virus, opposed the planned burial in their area.
Aside from the actions of corporations and charity organizations, the gestures of individuals also count. For example, people have ordered extra food to share with app-based food delivery drivers, who have seen their incomes plummet.
Padjadjaran University in Bandung is among the institutions calling for volunteers to support the provision of medical services. State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir had previously initiated a similar recruitment drive for volunteers. Some local administrations have converted facilities such as hotels into isolation wards for people who must be quarantined. Yet, with confirmed cases now surpassing 1,500 across the archipelago, National Disaster Mitigation Agency chief Doni Monardo has called on people to allow available houses to be used to isolate people who have arrived from out of town or overseas.
With communities seemingly left to fend for themselves, the government owes it to its citizens to resolve the lack of clarity around its strategy to handle COVID-19. Residents have expressed gratitude to their regents, mayors and governors who have attempted “partial quarantines” or “local lockdowns”, emulated down to neighborhood units – even as their leaders may face rebuke from President Jokowi, who continues to remind local governments that they require the central government’s approval to impose such “lockdowns”.
Despite all the confusion, more and more people are stepping up to lend a hand, and as is now the emerging custom in cyberspace, to offer a “virtual hug”.
