Assessing the Papuan Government’s Policy for Tackling the Spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19)

This paper aims to assess the Papuan government’s policy for preventing the spread of COVID-19 through the shutdown of travel to the region based on the Papua joint statement. Excluding the transportation of goods, Papua was the first province in Indonesia to restrict entry into the region by both sea and air travel. To analyse the Papuan government’s policy, Edwards’ theory of policy implementation was adopted. Using first-hand interviews, observations, and library research, this paper argues that the government of Papua has made the right decision to close its borders, despite challenges, as part of a strict policy to protect the region from COVID-19. It is also worth noting that although five regions selected for this study (Jayapura City, Mimika, Biak Numfor, Merauke and Yapen Regency) reflected variations between one another in policy implementation, they all had expressed how the local government in Papua was doing the best they could to eradicate COVID-19. The use of theoretical frameworks (communication, resources, dispositions, and bureaucratic structures) as part of policy implementation had also been effective, despite that some parts need to be improved. The results of this study include recommendations for effective coordination among policymakers, the availability of laboratory testing, adoption of evidence-based policies and improving the health system in Papua

Gender differences in fatigability and muscle activity responses to a short-cycle repetitive task

© 2016, The Author(s). Purpose: Epidemiological research has identified women to be more susceptible to developing neck–shoulder musculoskeletal disorders when performing low-force, repetitive work tasks. Whether this is attributable to gender differences in fatig ability and motor control is currently unclear. This study investigated the extent to which women differ from men in fatigability and motor control while performing a short-cycle repetitive task. Methods: 113 healthy young adults (58 women, 55 men) performed a standardized repetitive pointing task. The task was terminated when the subject’s perceived exertion reached 8 on the Borg scale. The time to task termination, and changes in means and cycle-to-cycle variabilities of surface electromyography signals from start to end of the task, were compared between women and men, for the upper trapezius, anterior deltoid, biceps and triceps muscles. Results: Women and men terminated the task after 6.5 (SD 3.75) and 7 (SD 4) min on average (p  >  0.05). All four muscles showed an increase of 25–35 % in average muscle activity with fatigue (no significant sex differences). However, men exhibited a higher increase than women in trapezius muscle variability with fatigue (31 vs. 7 %; p  <  0.05), and a decrease in biceps muscle variability where women had an increase (-23 vs. 12 %; p  <  0.05). Conclusions: Our results suggest that women and men may not differ in the ability to perform repetitive tasks at low-to-moderate force levels. However, differences in motor control strategies employed in task performance may explain gender differences in susceptibility to developing musculoskeletal disorders when performing repetitive work for prolonged periods in occupational life