State of Emergency

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

The government’s stance in mitigating the coronavirus pandemic continues to invite criticism. Hospitals in the regions and research institutions are questioning the monopoly of health ministry in virus testing. There is also controversy surrounding the import of coronavirus testing equipment. To avoid public disorder, President Jokowi refuses to call the coronavirus outbreak a crisis.

A health officer ran to an ambulance parked next to the isolation ward at the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital, Sunter, North Jakarta, March 5. ANTARA/Sigid Kurniawan. tempo : 173487945833.

WORLD Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus signed a letter to President Joko Widodo, dated March 10, 2020. In the letter, Tedros implicitly requested government’s transparency in mitigating the coronavirus disease 2019, or Covid-19. The WHO feels it needs to obtain Indonesia’s data. “The data is important as a comprehensive tool for measuring global risks,” said Tedros.

In the same letter,

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