UNAIR NEWS – The rise of Covid-19 cases right when the world is ready to move to endemic raises questions about Indonesia’s readiness. Epidemiologist of Faculty of Public Health (FKM) UNAIR Laura Navika Yamani SSi MSi said the relaxation of health protocol policy can be started by observing the public’s herd immunity.
“Therefore, the relaxation of mask-wearing policy doesn’t necessarily mean completely mask-free. We have to pay attention to several conditions, for instance, the high-risk group or doing activities in a crowded room with a narrow space. So, we can’t 100 percent stop applying health protocols,” Laura said.
The benchmark of transitions from a pandemic to endemic
Laura explained that some indicators can be the benchmarks in measuring the readiness for transitions to endemic, one of them is the rate of transmission.
“Currently, Covid-19 is not eradicated. However, the rate of transmission, which is less than one, indicates that there’s no spread. If the number is more than one, it spreads,” she said.
Apart from the rate of transmission, the inpatient case of Covid-19 needs to be monitored. The epidemiologist assumed that Indonesians’ immune status has reached herd immunity.
“We can assume that our community has reached herd immunity due to the 70 percent vaccination program. Even the booster and serologic data for antibody checks show that 90 percent of our population has already developed antibodies,” she added.
Support the transition
Laura emphasized that the public holds an important role in the pandemic transition. It can be achieved through increasing symptom awareness, implementing health protocols, and strengthening immunity status by fulfilling balanced nutrition.
“The alertness is not just for Covid, but for all infections. Boosting immunity is not only with vaccines. For now, yes, we’re focusing on vaccination, but we don’t know the potential of new infections. It’s important to prevent that by boosting our immunity.”
At last, Laura emphasized that endemic diseases can become pandemic again. Therefore, the government should provide health surveillance.
Author: Rosita
Editor: Feri Fenoria
