Jokowi Emphasizes No Easing PSBB In The Near Future

President Joko Widodo (Photo: Twitter @jokowi)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo said that the government has not decided to ease the Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) during the current coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic.

He said that the government had already made a scenario regarding the easing. However, the implementation has not been decided yet because it is still waiting for the right time.

"I want to emphasize that there is no policy for easing the PSBB," said Jokowi when opening a limited meeting on the acceleration of handling COVID-19 which was broadcast on the YouTube account of the Presidential Secretariat, Monday, May 18.

"Because it doesn't appear later, it's wrong to catch the public that the government is loosening the PSBB. Not yet. So there is no policy for easing the PSBB," he added.

In determining this easing decision, he said, the government continues to monitor conditions in the community and existing data regarding the spread of COVID-19 in Indonesia. "Let everything be clear because we have to be careful not to make the wrong decision," he said.

PSBB has been implemented in 4 provinces and 72 districts / cities. The effectiveness of this PSBB implementation still varies. There are areas where Covid-19 cases have decreased gradually, consistently, but not drastically. Some are down but they are volatile. There were things that did not change before and after the PSBB. pic.twitter.com/Sd80c1UMwS

- Joko Widodo (jokowi) May 12, 2020

The former governor of DKI Jakarta explained that the government will focus on monitoring the ban on going home and controlling the backflow after the Eid Al-Fitr.

In this limited meeting, Jokowi ordered the National Police Chief Gen. Idham Aziz and TNI Commander Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto to ensure that the homecoming ban was effective and followed by the community.

He emphasized that this ban is only for people who want to return to their hometowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. "What we are prohibiting from going home is not the transportation," he said.

Meanwhile, he continued, transportation related to logistics, governance, health, returning migrants, and other economic matters was still allowed. As long as you stick to strict health protocol rules.