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Endemic COVID-19 plan gets lackluster response
The 18-month COVID-19 crisis has put a heavy strain on regular people, especially the poor and vulnerable, who, in their constant battle to escape starvation, couldn’t care less about living alongside another disease.
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A man receives a dose of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine during a vaccination program for foreigners in Jakarta, August 24, 2021. (Reuters/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana)
O
ver the past few weeks, the government has teased out a plan to change its approach to handling the COVID-19 pandemic; instead of a zero-sum fight against a disease that has infected over 4 million people and killed more than 130,000 across the country, authorities are now exploring the idea of living with COVID-19 in the long term.
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin told the press on Monday that he was in the midst of formulating protocols for treating the coronavirus as an endemic disease. The concept of transitioning from a pandemic to an endemic disease – that is, when the virus has a constant prevalence in a population within a geographic area – is seemingly driven by a sense of optimism that the state can go on to mitigate the risks and protect those in need in a predictable manner.
Budi said the government aimed to intensify health-protocol observance, vaccinations and the “3Ts” of testing, tracing and treatment, including by using its PeduliLindungi mobile app and imposing multitiered community activity restrictions (PPKM) until the end of the pandemic.
Outside of the halls of government, however, the 18-month global health crisis has put a heavy strain on regular people, especially the poor and vulnerable, who, in their constant battle to escape starvation, could not care less about living alongside another disease.
Read also: Singapore prepares for long term life - and death - with COVID-19
Hunger over illness
Many people have found that the restrictions have caused more difficulties to their economic wellbeing than COVID-19 itself and the changes it has wrought on their daily lives.
