First, Indonesia’s agriculture minister promoted the use of a necklace containing a potion of eucalyptus to cure the coronavirus. Not to be outdone, the governor of Bali, a popular tourist island, came up with his own remedy: inhaling the steam from boiled arak, a traditional alcohol made from coconuts.
So-called influencers and self-styled experts have also promoted their own healing cures and misinformation on Indonesian social media, including a widely spread rumor that popular infrared thermometer guns cause brain damage.
As Indonesia loses ground to the pandemic, the government has struggled to deliver a consistent and scientific message about the coronavirus and the disease it causes, Covid-19.
As of Friday, Indonesia had reported more than 108,000 cases and more than 5,130 deaths, beating China in both categories.
However, even in the worst-hit provinces, up to 70 percent of people are left without masks and ignore social distancing requirements, according to the government, often crowding into shops and markets and hanging out in crowded cafes and restaurants. .
Indonesia is not the only country struggling with misinformation or whose leaders have promoted quackery remedies. The World Health Organization has called the ubiquity of dangerous false information an “infodemic”.
In Kenya, the Governor of Nairobi has promoted cognac as a miracle cure. President Trump has continued to promote hydroxychloroquine, a drug used to treat malaria, as a remedy for coronavirus despite medical evidence to the contrary. He has even suggested that an “injection into” the human body with a disinfectant such as chlorine could help fight the virus.
But Indonesia is unique due to its large population, expansive geography across thousands of islands, and mix of cultural identities. It would be quite difficult for the government to implement a clear and unified plan to fight the virus, but the promotion of confusing and often dangerous information has made matters worse.
The country’s president, Joko Widodo, had initially downplayed the pandemic and delivered conflicting messages. He admitted in March that he had misled the public about the virus to avoid panic. After that, it took him a while to close businesses and schools and limit travel, but he was quick to lift the restrictions even as cases kept increasing.
In May, he said that Indonesia should learn to live with the virus. However, a month later, she threatened to fire cabinet ministers for not doing more to control the pandemic.
This month, he called for a national campaign to promote better discipline in social distancing, wearing masks, and hand washing.
In the absence of a unified message from the national government, local officials and opportunists have filled the gap.
An official who has promoted a questionable remedy is Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo. He told reporters this month that a ministry lab had developed a potion made from eucalyptus that when worn on a necklace could kill 80 percent of virus particles in half an hour.
“Of 700 species of eucalyptus, the results of our laboratory tests showed that one type could kill the crown,” he said. “We are sure. We will produce it next month. “
His claim was quickly contradicted by health experts, including the head of the laboratory that developed the aromatic potion, who said it was not effective against the coronavirus. But that did not stop others from promoting it.
A popular singer, Iis Dahlia, met with Mr. Joko as he sought to recruit celebrities to assist in his health campaign. Soon after, she informed her 12 million Instagram followers that she was proud to wear the amulet.
“This eucalyptus necklace,” she said, “makes me feel safe and protected from the virus.”
In Bali, the governor, I Wayan Koster, has promoted a local treatment: inhaling the steam from boiled arak, a traditional alcoholic beverage. As if to stay on trend, he also recommends adding a pinch of eucalyptus oil.
The Governor, who has a PhD. in education and described himself as a former “researcher,” he said at a news conference last week that nearly 80 percent of those who inhaled the concoction tested negative earlier than expected.
The treatment has not been scientifically tested, but he said he hoped Bali would be able to patent and produce it.
The main government spokesperson for coronavirus, Wiku Adisasmito, urged the public to follow the health guidelines and not to trust superstition and half-hearted treatments, even when they come from public officials and celebrities.
“In times of emergency, we all need honest, science-based real events that give us hope, calm and clarity,” said Mr. Adisasmito, professor of health policy at the University of Indonesia.
Jusuf Kalla, a former vice president who now heads the Indonesian Red Cross, said the country had a slow start in fighting the pandemic, in part because health minister Terawan Agus Putranto played down its severity.
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Frequent questions
Updated July 27, 2020
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Should I refinance my mortgage?
- It could be a good idea, because mortgage rates have never been lower. Refinancing applications have taken mortgage applications to some of the highest levels since 2008, so be ready to get online. But the defaults have increased, too, so if you’re thinking about buying a home, be aware that some lenders have tightened their standards.
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What will school be like in September?
- Many schools are unlikely to return to normal hours this fall, requiring the routine of online learning, impromptu child care, and delayed work days to continue. California’s two largest public school districts, Los Angeles and San Diego, said July 13 that instruction will be remote only in the fall, citing concerns that rising coronavirus infections in their areas pose too serious a risk to students and teachers. Together, the two districts enroll about 825,000 students. They are the largest in the country so far to abandon plans for a partial physical return to classrooms when they reopen in August. For other districts, the solution will not be an all-or-nothing approach. Many systems, including the country’s largest New York City, are developing hybrid plans that involve spending a few days in classrooms and other days online. There is no national policy on this yet, so check with your municipal school system regularly to see what’s going on in your community.
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Is the coronavirus in the air?
- Coronavirus can remain in the air for hours in tiny droplets in stagnant air, infecting people as they inhale, growing scientific evidence suggests. This risk is highest in crowded interior spaces with poor ventilation, and may help explain overcast events reported in meat packing plants, churches, and restaurants. It is unclear how often the virus is transmitted through these small droplets or sprays, compared to the larger droplets that are expelled when a sick person coughs or sneezes, or is transmitted through contact with contaminated surfaces, Linsey said. Marr, Virginia Tech aerosol expert. Aerosols are released even when a symptom-free person exhales, speaks or sings, according to Dr. Marr and more than 200 other experts, who have summarized the evidence in an open letter to the World Organization. Of the health.
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What are the symptoms of coronavirus?
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Does Covid-19 transmit asymptomatic?
- So far, the evidence seems to show that it does. A widely cited article published in April suggests that people are most infectious approximately two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms, and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were the result of transmission from people who still had no symptoms. Recently, a senior expert from the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people without symptoms was “very rare,” but later withdrew that claim.
“Until March, Minister Terawan was like Trump, saying, ‘Oh, this is just a simple flu,'” Kalla said. “But now, Minister Terawan is very realistic. Ministers and governors are trying to find solutions in an uncertain situation. It’s trial and error. “
Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, and some citizens and officials have leaned on their faith to promote cures and guide their understanding of the disease.
On the island of Lombok, a senior official suggested that niqabs, loose Islamic veils worn by The women were as effective in preventing the spread of the virus as fitted medical masks.
“The advantage of the niqab is greater ease of breathing,” Suhaili Fadhil Thohir, regent from central Lombok, explained in an interview.
However, the Covid working group for the province, West Nusa Tenggara, continues to request facial masks, said Artanto, a police spokesman and member of the working group.
“The regent still wears a mask, not a niqab,” said Mr. Artanto, who like many Indonesians uses only one name. “We continue to educate people to wear a mask.”
For many Muslims, the Covid-19 burial protocol of wrapping the body tightly in plastic and burying it in a designated cemetery has been difficult to accept. Traditionally, members of the Muslim family wash the body of the deceased and wrap it in cloth to bury him.
Authorities say there have been many cases across the country of families rejecting doctors’ warnings and taking Covid’s positive bodies home for burial.
In Mataram, the main city of Lombok, family members of a woman who died in a motorcycle accident earlier this month refused to believe doctors who said she had tested positive.
About 100 men broke into the Mataram government hospital to reclaim the body. Officers tried to explain the importance of burial protocols. But they were outnumbered, and the men took the body, put him in a taxi, and left.
“It happens throughout Indonesia,” said Artanto. “Their understanding as people living in the village is different from that of those who live in the city.”
Mr. Adisasmito said that Islamic funeral traditions were deeply rooted and that it was difficult for people to accept that they needed to change. He compared it to Americans who refuse to wear a mask because it obstructs their “freedom, habits, and pre-pandemic lifestyle.”
“We live in a diverse world,” he said, “and different communities have distinctive values to which they cling.”
Muktita Suhartono and Dera Menra Sijabat contributed reports.
