VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

New Zealand is one of the countries that has successfully coped with the Covid-19 pandemic. Various events with a large number of participants have been carried out as usual there. On the other hand, other countries such as Singapore, for example, stated that they would close all school activities from Wednesday 19 May to 28 May 2021. In general, Singapore has decided to lock down from 14 May to 13 June 2021. This decision was taken as a result of the worsening spread of Covid-19, especially the number of communal cases since April 27. The  spike marks the start of the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic in Singapore. This is related to the spread of the corona virus variant B1617 India which is endemic in the Asian region.

Malaysia is still implementing a national lockdown until June. Meanwhile, Indonesia still hopes that there will not be an explosion in the number of Covid-19 cases post-Idul Fitri festivity.

The description mentioned is the condition experienced by countries that have been quite successful in dealing with Covid-19 (in this case New Zealand) and the countries that are still in the process of handling Covid-19 (Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia). Of course, it is unfair to compare the efforts of one country to another in overcoming the Covid-19. Because, the size of the area that must be faced, the number of people with different cultures and compliance and the response of one country are different from each other.

A book edited by Professor Elizabeth King, a global health researcher at the University of Michigan in the USA, as quoted by BBC Indonesia earlier this year, reveals findings about a comparison of the efforts of several countries to tackle the first wave of the coronavirus in early 2020. It states that the demographic composition in each country will affect its handling. For example, Italy, more than a fifth of the country's population is over 65 years old, making it more vulnerable to Covid-19. It’s in contrast to Africa's younger population. Public health policy is also influenced by other factors, such as the system of government (democracy or autocracy), formal political institutions (federalism or presidentialism), and state capacity (control over the health care system and public administration). All of them contribute to each government's response to the Covid-19.

It takes solid cooperation and synergy within each country to overcome this pandemic. In addition, there is a need for togetherness in steps in various regions. Without common awareness, it seems that it will be difficult for Covid19 to completely disappear from the face of the earth.