Epidemiologist Fears Undetected Covid-19 Cases Could Reach 1 Million

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - An epidemiologist from the Griffith University Dicky Budiman on Tuesday spoke about his fears of Covid-19 undetected cases, despite commending the government’s decision to extend the public activity restriction (PPKM Level 4). 

However, he noted that efforts in testing, tracing, and treatment still remain the biggest aspects that Indonesia needs to improve upon. 

“These 3T are still the biggest homework. From my calculations during the emergency PPKM alone, there could be 1 million undetected cases in Java-Bali due to the lack of 3T efforts,” the epidemiologist said to Tempo on August 10. 

The calculation was based on the deaths with a 0.5 percent assumed fatality rate index while also weighing in on the reproduction statistics of 1.1. He asserted that this was not something that should be taken lightly. 

Budiman believes as long as the virus remains undetected, it will be difficult to determine steps to control it. “What needs to be focused on are the tracing, treatment, and testing. Not vaccination,” he said.

The coordinator for the Java and Bali PPKM Level 4, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, in a press conference held virtually on Monday claimed that the enforcement of the covid restriction in July suppressed the rate of Covid-19 cases by 59.6 percent during the peak on July 15. 

Pandjaitan also claimed that Indonesia’s testing, tracing, and treatment abilities have improved significantly since May this year and logged a claimed 1:6 contact tracing average. 

Read: Govt Discloses Covid-19 Improvements from PPKM Level 4 in Java-Bali

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