East Java is facing a tough battle. It is the second hardest hit by Covid-19 after Jakarta.
Second-hardest hit province overwhelmed by infections
EAST Java has become the province second hardest-hit by Covid-19 after Jakarta, with patients overwhelming healthcare facilities.
The province, home to some 40 million people, reported 2,496 confirmed cases and 228 deaths, with only 337 patients having recovered, according to the central government’s tally as of Wednesday.
Half of the cases were reported in the provincial capital Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city and a thriving trade hub.
East Java recorded 5,014 patients under surveillance (PDPs) and 22,859 people under observation (ODPs), who are suspected of having contracted the virus but have not been tested yet or are waiting for test results to come back, with 568 fatalities having been recorded among these two groups.
However, the provincial administration has only imposed large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in Surabaya and its two regencies Sidoarjo and Gresik, and Malang city and neighbouring Batu city and Malang regency, despite all of East Java’s 38 cities and regencies having confirmed at least one case each.
“We have recommended that the PSBB be enforced in the entire province before all the cities and regencies in East Java are declared red zones.
“The number of PDPs in East Java is very high ... stretching throughout the province,” said Windhu Purnomo, a leading epidemiologist at Surabaya-based Airlangga University’s School of Public Health.
He said the PDPs had more than a 60% chance of being infected with the virus.
East Java, the home base of the country’s largest Islamic organisation Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), is torn between virus containment efforts and religious customs, especially during Ramadan.
Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa last week bowed to pressure from local chapters of the NU and the Muslim Ulema Council, which suggested that the province open mosques for Aidilfitri mass prayers.
On Monday, she retracted the permit.
Experts have criticised the weak enforcement and poor compliance in the first period of PSBB in Greater Surabaya between April 28 and May 11. Authorities have extended the PSBB until Monday.
A recent online survey conducted by the alumni of Airlangga University’s School of Public Health found that places of worship, offices and factories mostly remained operational without health protocols.
Windhu blamed the central government for aggravating the situation in East Java by allowing factories to stay in operation nationwide even in areas under the PSBB.—