In a press conference at City Hall on Monday (30 March) Jakarta Governor, Mr Anies Baswedan confirmed 283 suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases buried in Jakarta.
Mr Anies said the data was obtained from the Landscaping and City Forest Agency (Dinas Pertamanan dan Hutan Kota) in charge of the cemetery beside the data reported by the nation’s Ministry of Health.
He added that from 6 to 29 March, 283 suspected people in Jakarta had been buried following COVID-19 protocols, with their bodies wrapped in plastic, put inside coffins and interred in less than four hours after they passed away.
“Maybe some of them have not been tested, so it cannot be said that they were positive COVID-19. Or maybe some had been tested but the results have not come back,” he said. “This shows that the situation in Jakarta is very concerning. That is why I am asking the public to see the numbers not only as statistics data. They were our fellow residents and were healthy just a month ago.”
As of Monday (30 March) as reported at the press conference, Jakarta COVID-19 Task Force head, Mr Catur Laswanto said that according to official records, in Jakarta there had been 720 confirmed positive COVID-19, with 76 deaths, 48 recovery, 445 hospitalised and 151 self-isolation.
Mr Anies also urged the public to implement physical distancing measures to counter the spread of COVID-19 in Jakarta.
He said, “Stay at home, be disciplined about maintaining your distance, Protect yourself, protect your family, protect your neighbours, protect everyone. Don’t force the Parks and Cemeteries Agency to record even more deaths. Let’s all be responsible.”
For the territorial quarantine issue in Jakarta, Mr Anies said that this is the central government’s authority, and he has also written a letter to the central government regarding the territorial quarantine. He emphasised there are some sectors needed to still continue during territorial quarantine, which are energy, food, health, communication and financial sectors.
As of Monday (30 March) based on corona.jakarta.go.id, Indonesia reached 1,414 positive COVID-19, with 122 deaths and 75 recovery.
