Day 69.
No, it's not day 69 of Year 2020.
Today, 24 May 2020, is day 145 of Year 2020.
It's day 69 since I have started working from home.
My company declared the policy to work from home starting on 16 March 2020, but I still went to a meeting with client that day so, yeah, I officially (self-declared) started my WFH since 17 March 2020.
So, yeah, 2020 has been full of unexpected and, unfortunately, not-so-good news since the starting of year. I am sure there are some good happenings to share and celebrate though.
For starter. New Year.
I spent my New Year Day, the first day of 2020, at home. Not a problem. I completely enjoyed it if it's not due to the fact that the first floor of my house was like a little lake. After heavy rain on New Year's Eve and all, flood decided to visit Jakarta city. Not once though, In the end of January, the flood incident occurred once again.
Then I heard the news of Ukrainian jetliner crash in Iran before my heart broke reading and listening to the news about Australian bushfire. A volcano also erupted in Philippines and earthquake struck Turkey and the Caribbean.
The world also bid their farewell to Kobe Bryant, the NBA Star, in a helicopter crash, with eight other people, including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna. My heart broke a little more when I found out that Glenn Fredly, the famous Indonesian singer, who suddenly passed away due to the sickness. Indonesia also lost Ashraf Sinclair - the husband of Bunga Citra Lestari -, Sujiatmi Notomiharjo - the mother of our President, Joko Widodo -, and Didi Kempot.
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| Glenn Fredly. Also posted on his Instagram on 13 March. Rest in Peace, Bung. |
A father of one of my best friends also passed away suddenly. The fact that the family couldn't make their final visit as he was in another city was really heartbreaking.
Well, for my post today, I'm going to talk about the ongoing issue that the world is currently facing.
COVID-19.
Quoting from Wikipedia per today:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and has since spread globally, resulting in an ongoing pandemic. As of 23 May 2020, more than 5.28 million cases have been reported across 188 countries and territories, resulting in more than 340,000 deaths. More than 2.1 million people have recovered.
Basically, I have heard about it since week 2 or 3 of January 2020. Some people have shared the facts about this virus but Indonesia was pretty cool with it. Some netizens even made jokes that 'we' were too strong for the virus. I, myself, was unsure about how things went on and on.
The virus is spread between people during close contact. Public places are definitely the most dangerous area, when people cough, sneeze, or talk and produce small droplets and then the virus will travel fast and attack another person. To prevent this, the recommendation measures include hand washing, maintain physical distance from others, covering coughs, and keeping unwashed hands from the face.
Other than the fact that the virus can spread very, very fast, the next big issue is there is no available or found vaccine for the virus yet.
Other than that big issue?
People.
I'll go to that topic later after I summarized what happened in Indonesia first.
The first confirmed case in Indonesia is on 2 March 2020, a dance instructor and her mother who were infected from a Japanese national. They held a dance class on 14 February 2020 which was attended by more than a dozen people.
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| Contagion movie poster |
If you haven't watched a movie titled "Contagion", I'd recommend you to watch it for a better understanding of how 'easy' a virus can spread by simple, daily activities we have done. Imagine spending 14 days, not being aware of what happening in your body; you probably though that you're only having common flu or not feeling well enough but, at the same time, you're carrying the unknown virus to people around you.
When you can identify people who have been in contact with you during those days, it will be really helpful as they can be quarantined but... what if you don't? What if you take a public bus, travel with train, take a plane to another country, go to the mall and enter the elevator with strangers?
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020 and as a pandemic on 11 March 2020.
Quoting from The Jakarta Post here:
The difference between outbreak, epidemic, and pandemic: "the difference between these three scenarios of disease spread is a matter of scale."
Outbreak: small, but unusual.Epidemic: bigger and spreading.Pandemic international and out of control
I am not working in the healthcare industry so I can't say much but it's chaos during the early days. Cannot say it's not chaos now though.
The hospitals were not ready for the sudden outbreak during March 2020. Positive cases kept appearing and the government should take steps to prevent the outbreak to be even wider in area. Some other countries like Italia who also experienced the outbreak due to the ignorance (or so, people said) called out for a national lockdown, where the citizens are restricted from doing any movement including ban of non-essential travel, ban of public events, closure of commercial and retail business (except essential goods sellers and banks), suspension of teaching in schools and universities, etc.
The Indonesia government decided not to do the lockdown despite (some) citizens voted for that decision. Personally, I'm not sure if lockdown is the right decision to do though, but I'm not really an expert here. Therefore, for Jakarta, the government declared Large-scale Social Restrictions -- Pembatasan Sosial Berskala Besar (PSBB).
Quoting from Wikipedia per today:
The rules restricted motorcycle taxis from carrying passengers, banned eating in at restaurants (though allowed takeaways), made it obligatory for hotels to accept people who are self-isolating, and required sporting activities to be done within the vicinity of one's own home. Schools, entertainment sites, and some other locations were closed down, while public transport was limited to operating at 50 percent capacity. Only those fulfilling "basic needs" and those working in certain sectors are allowed to leave their houses, and they would be required to wear face masks.
The PSBB started on Friday, 10 April 2020 until Thursday, 23 April 2020.
However, due to the increasing numbers, the PSBB continued on Friday, 24 April 2020 until Friday, 22 May 2020. 2 days ago the PSBB ended.
Supposedly.
Again, the numbers are still in question for putting an end of PSBB so the Governor declared that the PSBB continued for the final phase of PSBB, from Friday, 22 May 2020 until Thursday, 4 June 2020. Afterwards, people should start to live a new normal life.
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| Credit of the picture goes to here |
What is a new normal?
Quoting from Wikipedia per today:
New Normal is a term in business and economics that refers to financial conditions following the financial crisis of 2007-2008, the aftermath of the 2008–2012 global recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of COVID-19 pandemic, the phrase New Normal refers to human behavior's changes after this pandemic, doctors at the University of Kansas Health System anticipate that the coronavirus pandemic will change daily life for most people. This includes limiting person-to-person contact, like handshakes and hugs. Additionally, maintaining distance from others, in general, will likely stick around.
I really hope that things will be better soon but, without the vaccine, it's pretty clear that the world will change somehow. People should live with new habits to prevent the outbreak because, of course, it's impossible for the country to go on with the restricted movements for a long, long time. Economically speaking, you know.
For the easiest example: public cinemas, wedding events, concerts, and travels.
Others? Let's mention the charity events and funerals.
During the early month of PSBB, things went crazy with all those sellers who tried to rip off people and the hoarding that people did. Before the pandemic, you could buy a box of 50 sheets face mask for IDR 20,000 but those people selling them online for IDR 250,000 or even IDR 400,000 for a box.
Yep, you read it right.
I'm not going to talk about other items but, seriously, the face mask is an essential item for people who work in the healthcare industry, the front line who MUST work during this pandemic and... Seriously, people? We also have some people who ignored the rule, gathering for definitely non-essential needs. Well, some people said it's probably been too long since PSBB started and they're 'okay' anyway so...
There are also people who blamed the Chinese or Japanese or other community. I was like... Man, they DID NOT want it, you know? And also some other infected people who (I really hope it's not true) tried to spread the virus to others so that he/she would not be 'alone'.
I am speechless.
Okay, let's stop it there and I hope people will get their senses back.
Let me mention about some other stuffs happening during the pandemic as well.
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| Have you learned new dishes during the quarantined days? |
Creativity.
People became more creative as they spend most of their times at home. Making videos on TikTok, learning how to cook and bake via YouTube, making podcasts, and... writing? Okay. Not me. HAHA.
My Mom and a best friend of mine (who couldn't cook at all before) did take their times to learn cooking succesfully!
Netflix is also one of the best resorts for people to spend their times. I am definitely included because I watched several movies and TV series there. I'll write my recommendations on another post next time! I'm not sure if I have found a new skill though during the past two months (my bad, really).
As I'm writing this post today, I should be in Penang, Malaysia, for my annual trip during May-June but, of course, due to this pandemic, all flights are cancelled and there's no such thing of travelling for a while. Oh well, I'll spend my time (lazily) today anyway.
Oh, Eid Mubarak for everyone who celebrates the Hari Raya today!
P.S.: I just had delicious Ketupat given by my neighbor (as always, every year).
Let's do our best during this pandemic so that everything can be normal again.
I do miss going around for no reason at mall, watching movies alone at cinemas, meeting up with my friends, working at a cafe, visiting book stores.
May all be well soon!
Now, I should try to produce something for the next post here, shouldn't I?
See you on the next post, people!
Stay home, stay safe! #dirumahaja
