UNS – The Dean of the Faculty of Law (FH) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, Prof. I Gusti Ayu Ketut Rachmi Handayani described the importance of legal regulation in the implementation of the new normal. The commentary was delivered in a webinar held by Universitas Wisnuwardhana Malang on Monday (15/6/2020) at 10.00 WIB. The Webinar that invited several legal experts was held through Zoom Meeting application and live broadcast on Divpromotion Unidha YouTube channel.
Prof. Ayu conveyed that in the legal field, research on good and wise regulation to solve Covid-19 related problems.
“This is why regulation is important to suppress the spread of Covid-19. The government has issued several regulations, for example, the Law No 6 of 2018 concerning Health Quarantine, Government Decree Number 21 of 2020 concerning Large-Scale Social Restriction to Accelerate Covid-19 Handling, Permenhub No 25 of 2020 concerning Transportation Control. These regulations serve to reduce the spread of the virus and to restore the economic stability of the community,” she explained.
Besides that, the Ministry of Health also issued the Ministry of Health Decree Number HK.01.07/MENKES/328/2020 concerning the Guideline for Covid-19 Prevention and Control at the Office and Industrial Workplaces to Support Business Sustainability amid the Pandemic (New Normal Policy). So far, the positive cases in several regions started to decline, however, in general, the total cases in Indonesia have not shown a decline. To eliminate Covid-19 in society requires time and it is suspected that it will stay in the society. Thus, people need to adjust themselves with the new way of life until a vaccine is developed.
“New normal is the change in behavior to maintain normal activities while implementing health protocol the prevent Covid-19 transmission,” Prof. Ayu added.
The government effort to create new normal can be seen from the issued policies. One of which is performed by Kemenhub by allowing inter-regional transportation to resume operation under strict monitoring, including requiring official letter and Covid-19 negative test result.
“The government has to develop a priority scale, what sectors to be open. Besides, the effort to increase testing capacity also can be done so that people with Covid-19 can be detected faster,” she stated.
Prof. Ayu added that a region or a country has to fulfill certain requirements before loosening the Large-Scale Social Restriction (PSBB) and implementing the new normal. The main requirement is the decline in Covid-19 transmission, not all regions experienced an increasing number of cases. If the transmission declined, new normal can be implemented by obeying the existing protocol.
“If the requirements are not met, then by allowing the community to perform their activities, the government relies on herd immunity or natural immunity. While herd immunity is failing in some countries. Herd immunity is the condition in which the majority of people in a group have the required immunity to fight the virus infection,” Prof. Ayu concluded. Humas UNS/Bayu/Dwi
