After approximately 2 years of battling the pandemic, the spread of Covid-19 cases in Indonesia began to show a significant decline. The decline in this case is an important asset for Indonesia, which will welcome a major Muslim religious event, namely Eid al-Fitr 2022.
For the government, this year’s Eid al-Fitr is an important moment to see the success of controlling Covid-19. The reason is, that this year is the first Eid where the government allows festive Eid celebrations and allows going home since the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020 and 2021, Eid celebrations will be carried out with strict restrictions to avoid the spread of Covid-19.
Ahead of this year’s Eid, Covid-19 cases in Indonesia continue to show a decline. In the last week (18-24 April), the number of Covid-19 cases in Indonesia reached 4,277, down 40.3% compared to the previous week (7,166).
On Sunday (4/24/2022), Indonesia reported an additional 382 Covid-19 cases, down 99.4% compared to the peak of wave III (64,718).
Active cases in Indonesia have fallen far from 17,631 on Sunday (24/4) compared to the previous week, Monday (18/4/2022), which was 50,969. The positivity rate also dropped drastically to 0.52% on Sunday (24/4/2022) from 0.60% on Monday (18/4/2022).
Meanwhile, the number of complete and booster vaccination recipients continues to increase. As of Sunday (4/24/2022), the complete dose of vaccination has reached 163.95 million people, or 78.7% of the target. The number of booster vaccination recipients reached 35 million or only 16.8% of the target.
Dicky Budiman, an Indonesian epidemiologist and researcher from Griffith University, Australia, explained that vaccination is an important asset for Indonesia in facing this year’s Eid. For the record, during Lebaran 2020 which falls at the end of May 2020, there is no vaccination considering the world at that time had only been facing a pandemic for a month.
Meanwhile, during Eid 2021, the number of vaccination recipients is still very small. For the record, Indonesia has just started a vaccination program for the general public starting July 1, 2021, after previously targeting health workers and vulnerable groups. Meanwhile, Eid al-Fitr falls on May 13, 2021.
Dicky explained that the vaccine in the face of going home is a protector for the Indonesian people when interacting at home.
“It’s like going to a place where it rains a lot and we wear an umbrella and wear protective clothing. An umbrella is like a booster while protective clothing is like a two-dose vaccination. Of course, the chance of us getting soaked is small but that we will be splashed by water, of course, there is because it’s still raining,” said Dicky.
However, there are things that the government and the public must be aware of. Data from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) shows the number of Covid-19 cases in Indonesia usually spikes after a long holiday. The second wave of last June/July, for example, was triggered by the long Eid holiday.
A similar experience was repeated during the long Eid al-Fitr 2021 holiday, where Eid al-Fitr 2021 fell on May 12. At the end of May, there were still 5,000-6,000 cases. Covid-19 cases jumped sharply and even out of control, reaching more than 54,000 cases in July 2021.
