Covid-19 is a global pandemic. It has already spread into all over the world, including our country, Indonesia. According to April 5 2020 data, there's 1,272,953 cases, 69,428 deaths, and 262,331 people recovered around the world. Meanwhile in Indonesia, there's 2,273 cases, 198 deaths, and 164 people recovered. If you can see, the death percentage in Indonesia is really high, it is around 8.7%. In China itself the death percentage is only 4% where it is the place where the virus spread. I think the Indonesian government is really slow to handle the spread of Covid-19. From the start, before it spread around Indonesia, the government did not guard the border areas like airports and ports intensively.
If I were the president of Indonesia, I would have implemented a lockdown for our country. Few weeks ago, our neighbourhood country, Malaysia, implemented a lockdown for the whole country. If we see the cases in Indonesia, 2273 cases is a big deal and yet there's still many foreigners who enter Indonesia. When the officers checked the body temperature of the foreigners, the temperature was still normal. But remember, the symptoms of Covid-19 will appear between 14 days. So maybe, the symptoms will begin to appear when they are in Indonesia and will infect other people in Indonesia.
If I were the president of Indonesia, I'm willing to spend a lot of money to fight Covid-19. I will prioritize the people's health and safety. I will implement a lockdown and give foods to the people once a day, foods like vegetables, rice, sugar, eggs, etc. If we implemented lockdown, it would decrease the spread of Covid-19 in public.
Meanwhile, in Indonesia, a few weeks before, there are still so many people who don't care and don't realize how dangerous this virus is, they still go to cafes and gather with their friends. In Malaysia, if there's people who gather with others outside their house, the police are really strict, they don't hesitate to pull a gun on those who don't follow the rules. How about Indonesia? The police just give warning through the speaker and the people just smile and leave the place slowly, as if they don't care. If I were the president, I would make very strict rules and punish those who don't obey. Yes, we need to be strict, because many people who don't care and don't obey the government.
If I were the president of Indonesia, I would learn from the other country how to handle Covid-19. We can learn from Italy. Few weeks ago, the government of Italy did warn the people to not gather in the crowd, but yet the people don't care about it and thought that the doctors in North Europe are the best in the world. But, a few days later, the cases in Italy jumped so high, and it really shocked the world. The total death of Covid-19 is the highest in the world, 15,887 deaths. So we can learn from other country experience and not let it happen again in Indonesia.
So the conclusion is, if I were the president of Indonesia, I will be very strict and willing to spend a lot of money to stop Covid-19.
