Coronavirus: WHO urges Jakarta to take more robust measures

Indonesian officers preparing to burn bats in Solo, Central Java, yesterday, as the country stepped up precautions in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
Indonesian officers preparing to burn bats in Solo, Central Java, yesterday, as the country stepped up precautions in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged Indonesia to scale up response mechanisms, including declaring a national emergency, to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which has seen five deaths and 96 confirmed cases in the country.

The latest death was among the 27 new confirmed cases announced yesterday.

The Indonesian government had announced 35 new cases on Friday.

In a televised broadcast late yesterday, State Secretary Pratikno announced that Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi has been infected with Covid-19. He has been isolated and is undergoing treatment at a Jakarta hospital, he said, adding that Mr Budi's condition is improving.

In a March 10 letter from WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to President Joko Widodo seen by The Sunday Times, the global health agency said every country needs to take robust measures designed to slow transmission and contain its spread.

"Unfortunately, we have seen undetected or under-detected cases at the early stages of the outbreak result in significant increases in cases and deaths in some countries," the letter added, without naming any country.

Countries with large populations and varying health system capacities across the nation need to focus on case detection and laboratory testing capabilities as early confirmation is a "critical factor" in containing an outbreak to first few cases and clusters, Dr Tedros said in the letter.

Presidential spokesman Fadjroel Rachman said yesterday that Mr Joko spoke on the phone with Dr Tedros on Friday and promptly carried out follow-up actions, including forming a national task force to expedite efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19. Protocols to handle the crisis for the national government in Jakarta and the regional administrations across its 34 provinces have also been established.

"We are now treating this as an unnatural national disaster," Mr Achmad Yurianto, a spokesman for the Covid-19 task force, told reporters yesterday, though he did not answer when asked if such a status amounts to a national emergency for the coronavirus.

Mr Doni Monardo, head of both Indonesia's disaster management agency and the Covid-19 task force, said all resources are now being gathered - from intelligence officers to the medical doctors' association, academics to civil society groups - to help fight the spread, and that facilities to test for Covid-19 will be expanded.

Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto will issue a regulation that will cut red tape for regional leaders across Indonesian provinces to withdraw funds to use to fight Covid-19, he added.

Mr Yuri, the spokesman, said: "We will mobilise all components in the society to help with contact tracing. Contact tracing is key to containing the spread of the coronavirus."

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said yesterday the Indonesian capital city will close all schools for at least two weeks from today and postpone national exams.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on March 15, 2020, with the headline Coronavirus: WHO urges Jakarta to take more robust measures. Subscribe