Indonesia leading the COVID-19 campaign

As the seat of the capital, Jakarta leads the trend on many issues including politics, economy, social culture and entertainment. It also leads in COVID-19. The city reported its first case in March last year, and then consistently reported the highest infection rate and most deaths caused by the virus. Will Jakarta set trends as the country strives to escape the pandemic and revitalize the economy? There are some encouraging signs that this may be the case. Jakarta is still the country with the highest COVID-19 infection rate, while other Java provinces are not far behind. Since February, the number of daily cases and deaths has been steadily declining. Since the peak of 70 cases on February 1, the daily death toll of COVID-19 patients has dropped significantly, with an average of only 11 cases last week. If in the first week of February, Jakarta buried an average of 78 people who died of the virus every day, while last week it buried an average of 36 people every day. The number of new cases reported every day dropped from an average of 3,370 cases in the first week of February to 968 cases last week. However, on Tuesday, the infection rate soared above 1,000 points. Whether this is a weird event or the beginning of a new trend, the next few days will prove it. The city’s hospital resources for accommodating COVID-19 patients are also less stressed. The hospital occupancy rate dropped from over 90% in January to less than 50% this week. Jakarta has been leading the national COVID-19 vaccination program, which was launched in January. However, it is too early to attribute the decline in the infection rate to the plan, as the city has simultaneously reduced the COVID-19 detection rate by 50% since its launch. And the government did not seize any opportunity. The ban on mudra is undoubtedly a tradition mainly aimed at the Jakartans. Mudras are a tradition for urban people to go to the countryside to celebrate the end of Ramadan. Since Jakarta has the highest COVID-19 infection rate in the country, there is a risk of spreading the virus to quarantine areas. However, all eyes turned to the capital to show the way out of the pandemic. From testing and distributing relief supplies for the poor to vaccination programs, the government has invested a lot of resources here to fight the virus. The pandemic has also caused tensions between the central government and the Jakarta government over how to respond to the pandemic. Given the ambitions of Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, his approach to COVID-19 may make or break the chance of the 2024 presidential election. Jakarta has involved Indonesia in the COVID-19 pandemic, now let’s see if it can bring the country out of trouble.