*Kalau tidak dialarang orang bepergian antar propinsi, maka pelayanan kesehatan yang tidak adekwat terhadap rakyat maka akan lebih banyak korban akan bergelimpangan akibat serangan COVID-19. *
https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/03/25/explainer-will-indonesia-be-southeast-asias-italy-a-review-of-how-the-nation-is-battling-covid-19.html *Explainer: Will Indonesia be Southeast Asia’s Italy? A review of how the nation is battling COVID-19* *Explainer: Will Indonesia be Southeast Asia’s Italy? A review of how the nation is battling COVID-19* - Rizki Fachriansyah and Ary Hermawan The Jakarta Post Jakarta / Wed, March 25, 2020 / 11:52 am The COVID-19 situation is already bad in Indonesia, which now has the highest death toll in Southeast Asia just a few weeks after declaring itself “virus-free”. As of Wednesday, Indonesia had reported 686 cases with 55 deaths <https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/03/23/indonesias-latest-covid-19-figures.html> .. The crisis is likely going to get worse. Experts predict that more than 70,000 Indonesians will have been infected <https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/03/22/some-70000-indonesians-could-be-infected-with-covid-19-before-ramadan-scientists-say.html> by the disease as of Ramadan and Idul Fitri, during which millions of the country’s Muslims typically travel to their hometowns. That number, according to one scientist, is a “conservative” estimate. The rapidly escalating health crisis has prompted the government to devise a variety of strategies – such as the practice of “social distancing <https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/03/16/stay-home-president-says.html>” and the use of mass rapid testing <https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/03/19/jokowi-orders-nationwide-rapid-testing-to-speed-up-covid-19-detection.html>– to avert an overwhelming health disaster. Questions linger, however, about whether the measures taken by the government are enough to prevent the country from descending into a crisis of the scale now seen in Iran and Italy, where the death toll has reached thousands, or even worse. Here is what Indonesia has been doing to fight the pandemic. *No lockdown, only ‘social distancing’* President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo continues to stand by his initial statement that the government would not seek to impose any form of lockdown in the country, citing the lasting repercussions that such a policy would likely cause to the country’s social cohesion and financial stability. Jokowi said the cultural characteristics and discipline of the Indonesian people were the two main reasons why the government had ruled out lockdown. “I have gathered data about countries that have imposed lockdowns, and after analyzing them, I don’t think we should go that way,” the President said during a limited meeting at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday. In lieu of issuing a strict lockdown protocol to control the spread of COVID-19, Jokowi insisted that social distancing, also called physical distancing <https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/24/20/who-urges-public-to-practice-physical-not-social-distancing>, was still the most viable solution to the current health emergency. “The policy of physical distancing can halt the spread of the disease if people really comply with it,” he said. Despite the central government’s aversion to lockdowns, the capital city of Jakarta has announced a state of emergency which entails restrictions that are similar to the ones normally associated with a partial lockdown, particularly Malaysia’s “movement control order”. On March 20, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan urged all stakeholders – including corporations, social organizations and religious groups – to take drastic action to prevent the spread of the disease during the state of emergency. The administration has since closed all tourism spots and entertainment venues and has limited access to public transportation. Read also: COVID-19: Does Indonesia need a lockdown? It depends on how you define it <https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/03/19/covid-19-does-indonesia-need-a-lockdown-it-depends-on-how-you-define-it.html> The National Police have also announced that officers will take strict action against people who gather in large numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The strict policies taken by the Jakarta administration and other regional administrations coupled with the police policy have raised suspicions that the government has imposed a partial lockdown on the country without saying so. However, it is clear that Jakarta, which has become the epicenter of the outbreak in the country, has yet to prevent people from entering or exiting the city, allowing the virus to spread to other provinces in the country. Cities from Sumatra to Papua are now reporting that their first confirmed cases had a history of recent travel to Greater Jakarta. South Sumatra and West Nusa Tenggara reported their first cases on Tuesday while the provinces North Maluku and Jambi reported their first cases on Monday, with the majority of cases having recently returned from Greater Jakarta. *Mass rapid testing — a silver bullet?*
