Indonesia Runs Out Of Options: Strict Sanctions On Social Restrictions Or Becoming A Second Italy

JAKARTA - Based on data from the Task Force for the Acceleration of Handling COVID-19, there are 520 people who died from COVID-19 out of a total of 5,516 cases in Indonesia. Most of the COVID-19 cases come from the capital city, Jakarta.

Sadly, in Jakarta, which is the area with two-thirds of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia originating, it is reported that many young people are still engaging in social interaction in stalls and cafes, even though President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is implementing new measures. to enforce social distancing on April 7th.

Gatherings of more than five people have been banned, there is a limit to the number of people who can use public transportation. Public spaces have also been closed. However, enforcement of these measures is deemed inadequate and there is a threat of dire consequences in the future.

For analysts, this is a chilling rehash of what happened in Italy, where people continued to socialize in cafes and clubs in February as COVID-19 was spreading in the north of the country. the.

In March, the number of COVID-19 spreads in Italy increased. At that time, Italy reported more than 165 thousand cases. Some 21,600 people have died there, the second highest death toll in the world after the United States (US).

Experts modeling the outbreak caution that Indonesia could just go along the same path as Italy, failing to rapidly implement measures to isolate affected areas and restrict the movement of people. Even Indonesia could experience something worse than Italy.

COVID-19 cases in Indonesia are estimated to peak at 95,000 between early May and early June. Covid-19 Task Force advisor to the government, Wiku Adisasmito, said another model created by the University of Indonesia's Faculty of Public Health had warned that there could be more than 140,000 deaths and 1.5 million cases nationwide in May, unless the government takes tougher action.

"This could be (the same case as Italy) if government intervention continues to be in the category of mild to moderate intervention rather than high scale," said Iwan Ariawan, from the University of Indonesia.

This pandemic has also claimed the lives of many medical professionals in Indonesia and Italy. In countries in Southeast Asia, at least 22 doctors, ten nurses and six dentists have died as of Monday. Meanwhile, Italy has reported the deaths of more than a hundred doctors.

Many Indonesian scientists warn that the number of COVID-19 cases is actually ten times higher than the official figure, given the low level of testing. To date, more than 36,000 people have been tested which is only 0.01 percent of the Indonesian population because of this. The government is working to increase testing by ten thousand people per day.

"To be sure, the number of people with COVID-19 is much higher ... 85 percent of people with COVID-19 have no symptoms and they cannot be detected with the current limited testing system ... Priority is given to people with symptoms or who have a history of contact with positive people with COVID-19, "said Iwan.

The need for sanctions

Muhammad Habib Abiyan Dzakwan, a researcher from CSIS, said that many people do not pay attention to social distancing steps because there are no sanctions for those caught violating these rules. In addition, he added, people still gather to worship at mosques and churches.

"This will increase the number of people exposed to COVID-19 as in South Korea where many people are infected at religious gatherings," he said.

Habib also criticized the central government for refusing requests from several local governments to implement social distancing on a large scale. "The central government must think a step further, that this area is not supported by sophisticated hospitals and an abundance of medical personnel," he said.

By law, all local or provincial governments need to get approval from the Ministry of Health before they can implement more stringent social distancing measures.

Therefore, it is feared that the increasing number of COVID-19 will come when the homecoming season arrives, which is before Eid. At that time, most people decided to return to their respective areas to celebrate Eid with their families. Not to mention those who decided to return home because they did not have income due to COVID-19.