Large-scale social restrictions to be imposed in Jakarta to stem the spread of COVID-19

On Monday (6 April) evening, Indonesia’s Minister of Health Terawan Agus Putranto has approved the proposal of Jakarta’s administration to implement the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in the country’s capital to prevent the spread of the deadly COVID-19. A ministerial decree concerning the approval has been issued on Tuesday (7 April). “Existing data shows there has been a significant increase and rapid spread of COVID-19 cases, accompanied by local transmission occurrence in the province of Jakarta,” the decree stated. The implementation of large-scale social restrictions is in accordance with the recently passed law - Regulation Number 9 of 2020 - issued the Ministry of Health. As such, below are the six prohibitions that will be applied to the public based on the regulation:

1. Suspending attendance to schools and workplace
2. Limiting religious activities
3. Limiting activities in public places
4. Restricting social and cultural gathering in public places
5. Limiting public transportation
6. Restricting other special activities related to national security and defenses

Even after the PSBB is implemented, Mr Putranto advised people to focus on community safety. “Stay focus on human life. The number one is to save the community,” the Head of Media and Public Opinion of Ministry of Health Busroni told Kompas earlier today. Mr Busroni added that all policies implemented by the city government of Greater Jakarta for the PSBB shall be for the purpose of saving the community. “All those (policies) will have no meaning when we do not save people, that is the citizen. That is the message from Minister of Health,” he noted. Following the approval from the Health Minister, the next step is for the Governor of Greater Jakarta, Anies Baswedan, to implement the restriction in line with the said regulation. “What we need is for the central government to hurry up to grant the status so we can issue the regulations,” Mr Anies remarked. Since Jakarta has been the country’s epicenter of the outbreak, Mr Anies proposed to impose this regulation in the city. Regional government are required to obtain a permit from the Ministry of Health before implementing such physical distancing measures by submitting a proposal to the task force. However, a Member of Parliament from the National Democratic Party fraction, Willy Aditya, reportedly stated to Kompas on Monday that the regulation is difficult to be applied in the city as he saw that the public transportation was still crowded. “In Jakarta, we observe that the means of public transportation remain packed with passengers. The physical distancing measure cannot be applied as expected,” he said to journalists after attending a meeting at the Ministry of Defense. Jakarta is the capital city and the largest city in Indonesia with a population of more than 10 million people. As of Monday afternoon, there were 1,396 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the capital, with 133 deaths and 69 recoveries.