JSC Talks Vol. 08: Understanding Jakarta’s Covid-19 Data

Hello, Smartcitizen! This week we return with another episode of JSC Talks. If you’ve been keeping up with the talks, you may remember a few episodes ago in which Hansen Wiguna, Jakarta Smart City’s Business Analyst, discussed the analysis process of the data displayed in corona.jakarta.go.id, especially the ones detailing Covid-19 developments in Jakarta. This week, Hansen returns once more to give the latest update on the Covid-19 data in corona.jakarta.go.id. Along with moderator Aryo Iswan and guest speaker dr. Dwi Oktavia from the Jakarta Department of Health, we will delve down the nitty-gritty of Covid-19 data collection and analysis in Jakarta.

New Terminologies, New Covid-19 Data

On 13th July 2020, the Indonesian Ministry of Health established several new terminologies used to classify Covid-19 cases. Hansen and his Data Analysis Team had to reorganize the data shown on corona.jakarta.go.id to make sure it matches the newly established terminologies used by the Ministry of Health. You may be already familiar with the old terminologies which are Person Under Monitoring (ODP), Patient Under Supervision (PDP), and Person Without Symptoms (OTG). But what about the newer terms?

Suspect

1. People with upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) who in the last 14 days before showing symptoms have traveled to or lived in countries or Indonesian territories that have reported local virus transmission.

2. People showing symptoms of URTI who in the last 14 days before showing symptoms have made contact with probable/confirmed cases of Covid-19.

3. People with severe URTI/pneumonia undergoing treatment in a health facility with no other possible causes based on convincing clinical evidence.

Probable

Suspected case with severe URTI/Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)/died with convincing clinical evidence of COVID-19 with no results of RT-PCR laboratory examination

Traveling Patient

Someone who traveled from within the country (domestic) and abroad (international) in the last 14 days.

Close Contact

1. People who have made face to face contact with probable or confirmed cases within a radius of 1 meter and a period of 15 minutes or more.

2. People who have been in direct physical contact with probable or confirmed cases (such as shaking hands, holding hands, etc.).

3. People who provide direct treatment for probable or confirmed cases without using a standardized personal protective equipment (PPE).

4. Other situations that indicate contact are based on local risk assessments determined by the local epidemiological investigation team.

Discarded

1. Someone with a suspect status and two negative RT-PCR test results for two consecutive days with an interval of >24 hours.

2. Someone with close contact status who has completed the quarantine for 14 days.

Hansen further emphasized that the old terminology cannot be converted or ‘mapped’ into the new terminology due to the difference in definition. For example, one cannot say that the Suspect category is a newer version of ODP, or vice versa. As such, the data using new terminologies will only be recorded starting on 17th July, while data before this date will still be accessible and use the old terminology.

Other than case terminologies, the patient status categories displayed are revamped as well. Before, the patient statuses were Intensive Care, Recovered, or Death. Now, the patient statuses are grouped into Hospital Isolation, Home Isolation, Death, and Finished Isolation.

According to Hansen, Jakarta has been doing quite well in terms of preventing the spread of Covid-19 to the point that it becomes an example for other regions in Indonesia since the launch of the corona.jakarta.go.id website. The amount of testing done in Jakarta is also numerous. The WHO’s testing standards are one thousand new tests each week for every one million population, which Jakarta’s health facilities have passed.

This data collection also resulted in various collaboration between the Provincial Government and third parties, one of which being Google Timeline which is now integrated into the JAKI app. This feature helps users track their travel history during the pandemic. Another example is Sulfikar Amir, an associate professor from the Nanyang Technological University Singapore, who has written a paper on micro lockdown as an alternative solution to Covid-19 in Indonesia.

From Data to Policies

Just as the title to dr. Lies’ presentation implies data is not merely a set of random numbers. The collected data is then analyzed into graphs and easily digestible information so that it can be a basis for policies that will in turn be disseminated as feedback and improvements.

Using epidemiology data, access to testing procedures can be given earlier to people who are more vulnerable to the virus, as well as to perform tracing on people who have been in contact with positive patients so that they can be isolated quickly to break the chain of infection. Not only individuals, but data can also track the population on a grander scale. By mapping, it can be seen clearly in which areas have a higher rate of infection which means higher risk for those living or working there. From these results, more focused policies can be made specifically for these prioritized areas.

Even before the pandemic became widespread, data collection and analysis had helped create policies and socialization for the citizens of Jakarta. In January, when possibly infectious disease was first detected coming from Wuhan, data on the number of flights from China to the Soekarno-Hatta Airport was collected. It was found that within a month, there were about 29.000 flights from China to Jakarta. Thanks to this data, the risk could be assessed early and information on health and safety can be given quicker to health facilities and citizens.

From the various examples provided by dr. Lies, you can clearly observe the important role of data analysis in policymaking as well as preventing Covid-19 spread in the population. All the data discussed here by Hansen and dr. Lies can be accessed on corona.jakarta.go.id which is updated daily. You can also receive daily notifications on Covid-19 updates directly to your device by using the JAKI app, downloadable from App Store and Google Play Store. Don’t forget to subscribe to the Jakarta Smart City YouTube channel to catch the next JSC Talks live!