Covid-19 Could Get Worse If Forest Fires Recur
Rakyat Merdeka - The corona outbreak (Covid-19) could get worse if forest and land fires (karhutla) recur this year. Senior public health adviser at Yayasan Alam Sehat Lestari (ASRI), West Kalimantan, Monica Nirmala, assessed that Covid-19 and forest and land fires both threaten the lungs and safety of every human being.
She quoted from The Strait Times Cross-border haze due to forest and land fires was first documented in October 1972.
Four decades of smoke disasters have occurred almost every year. He is worried that in this pandemic, cases of forest fires will occur again.
"It has been happening and repeating for a long time. Will forest and land fires repeat themselves during this pandemic," Monica said in her written statement to Rakyat Merdeka.
This Harvard University alumni said, there are at least five links between Covid-19 and forest and land fires, and why Indonesia needs to act now to prevent the "smoke festival" from repeating itself in the pandemic year. "I abbreviate it to 5S," Monica said.
First, susceptibility to contracting the virus. Ciencewicki and Jasper (2007) showed that exposure to air pollution can weaken the body's immunity to viral infections in the respiratory tract.
Macrophages, a type of immune cell that fights viruses by "phagocytosing" them, have been shown to decrease in function due to pollution exposure.
By weakening the human immune system, forest and land fire smoke has the potential to increase a person's vulnerability to contracting Covid-19," he said.
Second, the severity of the disease. Forest and land fire smoke contains small particles of less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) which are toxic to the lungs and human body. Exposure to PM2.5 increases inflammatory conditions in the lungs (Qing et al, 2019).
To resolve inflammation in the respiratory tract, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors - producers of anti-inflammatory enzymes - increase in number.
Meanwhile, this ACE2 receptor is what he termed as the entry point for the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19 to bind to human cells.
"The more ACE2, the more viruses that can bind to body cells, the more severe the disease can be," he said.
Through this mechanism, it is estimated that forest and land fire smoke can exacerbate the pain caused by Covid-19 (Comunian et al, 2020).
In addition, forest and land fire smoke is also closely related to diseases of the respiratory organs, heart and blood vessels, and systemic inflammation, all of which are comorbid with Covid-19 itself.
"This means that if the two conditions of Covid-19 and forest and land fires occur together, the impact of the disease can be more severe," he said.
In fact, a study by Wu, Nethery, et al (2020) showed that a 1 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 pollution was associated with an 8 percent increase in deaths from Covid-19. Third, the system or burden on the health system.
Separately, both Covid-19 and forest fires have significantly increased hospital visits (Black et al, 2017).
If both come together in this pandemic year, then the capacity of hospitals in Indonesia, especially in many areas where the number of beds is below WHO standards, may not be able to accommodate the surge of patients who come.
When the health system is overburdened, patients may not be treated properly or at all.
This condition can lead to excess deaths in Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 cases. Fourth, spread or transmission of the virus.
PM2.5 contained in forest and land fire smoke can serve as a "vehicle" for many types of viruses, so that they are spread and inhaled by humans (Comunian et al, 2020).
If the transmission of Covid-19 is also influenced by pollution levels, which are still being studied today, then forest and land fires also have the potential to increase transmission in areas that are heavily exposed to smoke.
In addition, fire and smoke also force many people to flee, as was the case with hundreds of refugees in Indonesia last year (CNN, 2019).
Evacuation facilities due to forest and land fires generally use closed and air-conditioned rooms so that smoke from outside does not enter the room. According to him, this is contrary to the Covid-19 prevention protocol.
Fifth, self-legitimacy, which is the fulfillment of Indonesia's commitments to neighboring countries. Not only in Indonesia, forest and land fires cause cross-border haze problems that affect at least 6 countries in Southeast Asia.
Since the largest forest and land fires in 2015 in Sumatra and Kalimantan, Indonesia has agreed with ASEAN countries and committed to realizing a Smoke-Free ASEAN 2020, as outlined in the Roadmap on ASEAN Cooperation Towards Transboundary Haze Control with Means of Implementation in 2016.
Successively, Indonesia also promised to be haze-free in 2017. Then the smog-free Asian Games in 2018. Now in the year of the pandemic, many countries are wary of improving their economic conditions, so Indonesia has an even greater responsibility to fulfill its commitment to prevent repeated forest and land fires.
"It is very important to prevent it so as not to worsen the Covid-19 situation in ASEAN," he said.
He continued, entering August 2020, 65 percent of regions in Indonesia are experiencing the peak of the dry season.
The Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) urges local governments, decision makers, and the wider community to prepare to anticipate the impact of drought, including forest and land fires, drought, and the availability of clean water.
"Now at least five provinces have declared the forest and land fire emergency alert status, including Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Riau, Jambi, and South Sumatra, until September and October 2020," he said.
The Minister of Environment and Forestry, Siti Nurbaya Bakar, expressed her concern about the potential for the dual disaster of Covid-19 and forest and land fires.
"Covid-19 and forest and land fires should not happen at the same time, I am very afraid of that," she said on Friday (17/7).
Siti warned that Indonesia needs to be extra vigilant about the potential for forest and land fires at least until November, due to the delay in the dry season from the initial prediction. The pandemic provides an opportunity to enter the new normal.
Let's no longer make forest and land fires part of our normal life, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Let's together make this new normal an opportunity to change and work collectively towards a better normal, namely Indonesia without smoke.
"Protect the world's lungs, for the sake of our lungs. Prevent forest and land fires now," he said.
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