In fairness Indonesia isn't the only country caught off guard - this is a once in a generation type of an event which few saw coming, and fewer were prepared for, except perhaps those countries like Taiwan who had a dress rehearsal in SARS.whatever it is one thing for sure- too little too late.
I do not fault the government for failing to act in January... most of the world assumed COVID19 would just be another flu-type virus, albeit a slightly more dangerous one and due to seasonality would not be that big of a concern for tropical countries. In hindsight, the semi-lockdown should have happened sooner and been taken more seriously, but it is never an easy call to demolish a significant portion of the economy - especially when there are radicals who look for any excuse to demand "khilafa".In absolute fairness they have known about it since January...
Yep they knew it too well and in fact the Indonesian minister of health made a joke about it and saw this novel virus as something trivial.In absolute fairness they have known about it since January...
I've read several articles wherein it is claimed scientists have predicted some kind of epidemic would hit for several years now. Nobody took them serious, or the countries claimed they were ready (USA..).
I'm handling a lot of US citizens in my job, quite a few actually prefer to stay in Indonesia compared to the shitshow in the US at the moment.
Interesting thing is that first case in New York and in Jakarta were almost on the same date-March 2nd.
Where is NY now and where is Jakarta now. There are no dozens of thousands of patients in Jakarta in need for ventilators, like in NY. What is the reason? Jakarta is 40% slums, should be much more spread and much more dead. NY has 350 dead till now and Jakarta around 50.
Which does make you think, even if the government is hiding the real figures, an outbreak on a scale as the US would be difficult to hide with all the social media here..
Most now wear those anti spitting masks which you put on your chin.
There's another huge shipment of medical equipment coming from China. As well as a team of doctors. They just boarded.
You should see Bill Gates' TED Talk from 2015. He predicted it almost exactly.In fairness Indonesia isn't the only country caught off guard - this is a once in a generation type of an event which few saw coming.