This Paper is Submitted to Fulfull The English 2 Task Study Program Software Engineering 4th Semester Buddhi Dharma University, Tangerang. Lecturer : Dra. Harisa Mardiana, M.Pd.

1. FINAL EXAM PROJECT
“AGEISM IN THE TIME OF COVID-19”
By :
CHRISTOPHER ANTONIUS
20181100007
STUDY PROGRAM SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
UNIVERSITAS BUDDHI DHARMA

2. The recent outbreak of COVID-19 is the gravest health crisis the world has seen in a century. A
significant proportion of asymptomatic carriers of the disease, often with mild symptoms that can be confused
for other illnesses, and a lack of sufficient testing makes it extremely hard to accurately assess the number of
infected people. While COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, can lead to hospitalization and
even death for young and middle-aged adults, it has caused the most severe health issues for adults over the age
of 60 — with particularly fatal results for those 80 years and older.
As Indonesia continues to report hundreds of new COVID-19 cases daily, the government appears to be
preparing for the “new normal” by allowing people aged 44 years and below to work outside their homes
despite mobility restrictions to contain the epidemic. COVID-19 task force head Doni Monardo triggered
criticism after he said that the age group in question had a lower fatality rate at 15 percent and was less
vulnerable than the elderly. Even so, State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir issued a circular
days later, setting out an example of a “new normal” scenario that entails a plan to allow SOE employees under
45 years of age to return to their offices starting on May 25, albeit with several precautions (Syakriah, 2020).
According to Soedarsono (2020), young patients aged between 30 and 40 years have died as well,
mostly because of underlying health conditions. Young people without such conditions have a higher chance of
recovering. The most common conditions are hypertension, heart disease and diabetes.
There are both physical and social reasons why the elderly more vulnerable to coronavirus. Older people
don't have as strong an immune system so they are more vulnerable to infectious disease. They’re also more
likely to have conditions such as heart disease, lung disease, diabetes or kidney disease, which weaken their
body’s ability to fight infectious disease. The elderly might also have isolation or mobility challenges. So
because they're isolated, they can't get information about what to do, or they're not able to get food they need if
stores are out of stock and things become more difficult. In many societies, seniors are more likely to live in
poverty, which makes it more difficult for them to get the things they need and to take care of themselves.
Poverty presents a whole range of challenges pertaining to health (Tulenko, 2020).
The explanation for the generally heightened risk to the elderly, but also for the fact that Covid-19 kills
many younger people even as some seniors survive, lies in a growing understanding of “immunosenescence.”
Immunologists have identified some of the specific ways the immune system changes with age, allowing them
to go beyond the simple assertion that it weakens. Older people are not as good at reacting to microorganisms
they haven’t encountered before. We just have fewer soldiers dealing with attackers we’ve never experienced
before, like the new coronavirus (Nikolich, 2020). Our immune systems have two sets of defenses against
viruses and other pathogens: a first-line army of cells, called leukocytes, that attack invading microbes within
minutes to hours, and a second-line force of precisely targeted antibodies and T cells that surge to the battle
front as late as several days after.

3. Immunosenescence spells bad news if the new coronavirus continues to circulate, even at sub-pandemic
rates, because it suggests that older people who have survived Covid-19 may not have robust immunity should
they be exposed to the virus again. With the flu, younger people have a stronger “immune memory” than older
people — their T cells and B cells primed to attack if a flu virus they contracted decades ago returns. If immune
memory for coronavirus resembles that for flu, then young people will be much more protected when it comes
back (Kuchel, 2020).
Healthy younger adults may perceive themselves as invulnerable to COVID-19 and, as a result, may not
realise the importance of following public health advice and policies on infection prevention. Even though
COVID-19 mortality rates are higher in older adults compared to other age groups, our concern is that age is
being conflated with frailty and co-morbidity, which are likely to be the more important factors associated with
mortality. Social media highlights older adults who sacrifice their own lives so that ventilators can be used for
someone younger. When medical equipment, and hospital capacity becomes scarce, care providers may be
faced with the ethical decisions about whose life takes priority and age may become a deciding factor. This may
lead people to believe that an older person’s life may be less valuable than that of someone younger.
We cannot afford to be careless about these lost lives because of ageist attitudes. We need to consider
what we stand to lose if we let ageism influence how we discuss and treat older adults during and after the
COVID-19 pandemic. Despite clear indications of ageism, there are also encouraging signs of intergenerational
solidarity during this pandemic. There are myriad examples of younger people supporting older adults during
their isolation: dropping off groceries, looking after their garden and working to keep them socially connected.
Some health care professionals who are working tirelessly to help others have taken the time to show
compassion and connect older adults in hospitals or residences with their loved ones via smartphones.
Regardless of age, there are precautions all of us should take: frequent, thorough handwashing, avoiding
nonessential travel and large groups of people, and disinfecting frequently touched objects. One of the most
crucial steps those over 60 can take, though, is to avoid visiting with grandchildren and other young people.
Although children, especially those without underlying conditions, seem to be less affected by COVID-19 than
other groups, they are still likely to be carriers of the disease. While their symptoms might look like the flu or
common cold, there is every possibility that they could have COVID-19 and spread it to those around them.
Even before people show symptoms, they can still be contagious, so it’s important for everyone to limit their
contact with others so as to avoid spreading the virus to others without knowing it.
While limiting exposure in a pandemic can seem daunting, there are ways to do so and people willing to
help. There are those taking on grocery shopping for vulnerable populations and finding other ways to support
aging communities. Looking for local resources to support those vulnerable to COVID-19 can be a great way to
limit exposure during this time.

4. REFERENCES
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Meagher, J. Coronavirus: Beaconsfield opens 'vulnerable person registry'. [Online]
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