Don\'t Add to Patients’ Misery

Do not add to the suffering of the COVID-19 patients with news coverage.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

Speaking at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Monday (2/3/2020), President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo explains that two Indonesian citizens have contracted the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The two people were infected via a Japanese citizen who met them in Depok, West Java. This is the first case of Indonesian citizens having contracted the virus in Indonesia. The two are being treated in the isolation room at the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital.

Chaos may be the right word to describe discussion on social media after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo announced that two Indonesian citizens tested positive for the new coronavirus. Aside from people urging others to buy hand sanitizer and face masks, detailed information on the identity of the two patients, including their photographs, spread on social media.

A number of news outlets also released personal information about the two patients. More than that, images of the home of the two patients marked with police lines being sprayed with disinfectant by the police immediately went viral.