Possibly that, for me, was the most impressive thing to happen during our reporting journey in Sebaru Kecil
” A day prior to our journey, I performed an internet research study, but Google tossed little info on this remote, empty island of Sebaru Kecil …”
Fauzi Lamboka, ANTARA’s journalist covering the Jakarta concern, later on accrued details from a number of sources that Sebaru Kecil, situated in the northern area of Seribu Islands, is a two-hour boat journey far from its nearest settlement island.
ANTARA formed a group of three– Lamboka, Sugiharto Purnama, and Akbar Nugroho Gumay– with each in charge of text, video, and photograph news, covering the mass quarantine of Indonesians left from two coronavirus-exposed global cruises.
Wednesday, February 26
The team, with inadequate info on COVID-19, left for Sebaru Kecil from the Marina Port in North Jakarta.
The typical standard was just to keep a safe range of some 2 meters from “suspected individuals,” as the virus can be transmitted through human beads. For this reason, physical contact with the contaminated person is more likely to spread the contagion.
During that time, it was viewed that COVID-19 was “too far,” as the illness had actually solely impacted China, especially Wuhan City, and a number of other countries, including Japan and South Korea, till Indonesia validated its very first 2 cases on March 2.
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Employee were firstly concerned, as they would need to straight communicate with those evacuees or individuals involved in the evacuation procedure. Nevertheless, these sensations quickly took a rear seat once they got to the area.
Sebaru Kecil is an uninhabited island, so the federal government considered it safe and far from local settlements. However, centers, such as structures and supply of water devices, were currently in place there, as “it used to be a drug rehabilitation center.”
The group has 2 days to make some preparations before evacuees from the first ship of Dream Cruise arrive as set up.
As a precautionary step against a worst-case circumstance in which individuals in quarantine had currently contracted the coronavirus disease, the team prepared to do the news coverage aboard a drifting boat close to the island, though with the probability of choppy waters.
” Nevertheless, at the moment, we observed that on the really first day, we located Lipan, a close-by empty little island geared up with a dock, just about 500 to 600 meters away from Sebaru Kecil’s dock,” Lamboka mentioned.
Friday, February 28
Throughout this reporting period, the team stayed on a settlement island of Harapan from where it took 2 hours to reach Lipan aboard a rented local fisher’s boat.
They normally leave the accommodations at 7 a.m. regional time after consuming their breakfast while likewise packing some meals for lunch.
The Indonesian naval vessel KRI Dr. Soeharso-990 cruised near Sebaru Kecil that day in the afternoon. Its Landing Craft Utility (LCU) continued the journey of evacuation to the island.
The ANTARA team was on standby at Lipan’s pier, with Lamboka set to pen down his observations in an article, Purnama all set to tape-record the continuous occasions through his electronic camera zoom, while Gumay had prepared his telephoto lenses and electronic camera drone to capture the minutes.
Despite the distance being viewed as extremely safe, staff member made it an indicate follow the health and wellness procedures by wearing masks and safety glasses.
The LCU docked at around 4: 30 p.m. local time, and all 188 evacuees disembarked.
That was the last visual moment of World Dream’s team evacuation procedure, as they go through quarantine at the observation area afterwards.
The team undertook another two-hour boat trip to return to Harapan Island to take some rest.
Things did not go as planned. Particular conditions throughout the journey obliged KRI Dr. Soeharso-990, with 69 evacuees onboard, to simply sail near to Sebaru Kecil in the evening.
The group dealt with uncertainty owing to the absence of a fixed schedule on disembarkation, while they still had to make the four-hour-long round trips from Harapan to Lipan on a day-to-day basis.
Wednesday, March 4
” It was nearly night, and in the face of serious weather condition, we chose to inform our rented boat operator to go back to Harapan without us. We were still waiting for embarkation at that time,” Purnama mentioned.
” Nevertheless, it all entered vain, as strong winds blew and big waves lashed the islands,” Purnama recalled.
Therefore, the evacuation procedure was again cancelled.
Later on that night, the ANTARA group, in addition to several other TELEVISION journalists, had to withstand rainy weather condition conditions aboard a rescue ship and to avoid being swept away at Lipan, the small island, they then left to the nearby resort island reachable through a 30- minute journey.
” Possibly that, for me, was the most remarkable thing to take place during our reporting journey in Sebaru Kecil,” Gumay noted, adding that he was drenched, as waves reaching heights of 1.5 to two meters, struck the ship.
Friday, March 6
The group had actually completed its tasks, as 68 evacuees, among whom was required to go through further medical tests aboard the ship, had disembarked to go into the quarantine centers on Thursday, and the members then prepared to return home.
The 500- meter reporting distance might have eased the stress and anxiety of staff member, however they still needed to go through a medical examination after landing in Jakarta to guarantee that they were healthy and specifically free from COVID-19
Lamboka, Purnama, and Gumay concurred on this being the ideal procedure to follow prior to returning back to family and friends, without any remaining concerns or apprehensions.
The medical tests were finished at early dawn on the next day, therefore marking completion of the COVID-19 reporting experience in Sebaru Kecil that stretched, from the earlier scheduled five days to 10 days.
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