Don't be careless about handling the plague

Don't be careless about handling the plague

By. GPB Suka Arjawa

President Joko Widodo has said that there is still no government decision to relax the PSBB (large-scale social restrictions). This statement was issued in response to various discourses developing in society. The discourse tends to be dominated by the desire to be free from PSBB. It may even be a desire to escape from being trapped in the house.

However, then a statement from the government component that also related to the easing effort also emerged. Among them came the phrase PSBB relaxation. This is nothing but an effort to loosen the PSBB. So, even though the president has stated there is no policy to make such easing, the public has interpreted that there will be easing. And as if it were characteristic of our society, committing an offense is a choice. Either they feel victorious over this violation, feel manly or indeed a stupid period with the violation, which also means a period of ignorance in its own existence.

When PSBB has been established in several regions in Java there have been many violations of the policy, so once there is a laxation from the government, the violations become more and more, and once the violations are committed will be emulated by others and more will violate , more and more are emulating. In Bali, the Denpasar-gilimanuk line makes no difference as the frequency of vehicles passing by as before Covid 19 was known. In Jakarta, traffic jams continue to occur around the Tanah Abang market. Likewise with other cities in Indonesia.

From the phenomenon of the spread of Covid 19 in Indonesia, there should not be the slightest thought of easing. It is still very clear, both in terms of the number of outbreaks and the discipline of the community, far from being successful in suppressing the spread. We now know more clearly that this is the social quality of society.

In terms of numbers, the corona virus has infected more than 20 thousand people. There is no day without the addition of a corona virus outbreak in Indonesia. In the coming days it may already exceed 21,000 people who have been infected. You can imagine this number will be able to breed again the next day. It is true that four thousand recovered, but over a thousand people have died. Let's say the infected number is still 14 thousand, but with the level of discipline of the community that is still chaotic like this, the danger that threatens Indonesia is still significant. Decline in several regions, followed by improvements in other regions. So, however, there should be no thought to loosen PSBB and other prohibitions. Again even at the level of thought, this should not exist. Moreover, later discourse by state officials. More or less India can be said as an example. The country is still extending the lock down, despite more unemployment in the country. But, that's a choice made by the country for the sake of its future.

Sociologically, the easing of the threat from the corona virus is also very unsupportive. Social relations between individuals and individuals, with groups and between any party, will not be able to carry on normally if there is a disruption in the media of social relations (interaction). There are so many media for interaction, and the main thing is discourse (mouth, gesture, object). This is the media that actually threatens because it is potentially exposed to viruses. The driving factor of the virus settling is the interaction (social relations) itself. You can imagine, when we interact it is threatened by the interaction tool itself. There will definitely be a disturbance here. In studies of social change, bad social relations will lead to conflict. The most dangerous conflict in society is violence (open conflict like fighting). But in this context, the most fatal conflict is exposure to the deadly virus. This is what to watch out for.

Perhaps the overwhelming desire to relax all these rules is influenced by external discourse. The loudest is probably the rolling of the German football league (bundesliga), easing of rules in Italy, the more normal China and Japan, then New Zealand which has begun to open schools and Australia which has successfully pushed to the lowest point (one case?) The fall of kovid-19.

If it can be honestly expressed, there are advantages to them, namely discipline, awareness, and the readiness of the community to accept changing social patterns of life. This is what is called the new normal normal social life pattern. This new normal lifestyle, not just discourse but facts that require new challenges to do it. Look at the German league as an example.

Reserve players must stay in the stands wearing masks. Seated distance. The player must not spit, may not embrace while celebrating scoring success. If you have to tackle your opponent, you must immediately avoid it. Imagine, this is a new habit, changing completely from a habit that has been going on for decades, even since football was born.

The question then, is our society preparing for this new normal condition? There are many members of the community who wear masks at will, even from rough cloth that has holes open. They wear masks to cover their mouths (not noses!) To avoid pecalang! So it is not to protect yourself. When a market is declared open from 11:00 to 15:00, what happens is not a sense of security, but rather frightening. Buyers actually arrive at 11:00 a minute so the market is again crowded. The community is also unable to use the refrigerator. It's clear, the refrigerator is a tool that is useful in terms of strategy to beat time and save energy. This means that with vegetables or meat that can be stored for three days, we don't need to go to the market every day. What happens in the community? They still go to the market every day to buy vegetables and meat, the reason is meeting old friends and being able to bid on goods. Once again, don't be rash. This is a dangerous disease problem !! ***

Author, lecturer in Sociology, FISIP Udayana University