With Jakarta having just recorded the highest single-day spike in Indonesia with over 4,100 cases yesterday, Governor Anies Baswedan is now encouraging — not telling — all Jakartans to stay at home for the weekend.
Speaking to the press following a meeting with Jakarta Metro Police Chief Fadil Imran and Jakarta Military Command Headquarters Head Mulyo Aji today, Anies said Jakartans should only go out for extremely urgent and necessary matters.
“So we are suggesting to all the people in Jakarta and surrounding areas, on Saturday and Sunday, to remain at home. [It’s a] suggestion,” Anies said, while adding that people should stay at home as much as they can.
“Not just Saturday or Sunday, it just so happens that tomorrow is Saturday-Sunday and a holiday so use it to stay at home. This is an opportunity for us along with our families to not go anywhere, to reduce activities where there are risks of transmission.”
Though it’s a fairly simple suggestion, given that we’re amid a raging pandemic, it’s hard not to see it as hinting at the possibility of tighter restrictions to come. Since June 9, daily COVID-19 cases in Jakarta have hovered at around 2,000 before it jumped to 4,144 just yesterday.
Anies’ “suggestion” would surely frustrate health experts in the country, many of whom are calling for full lockdowns — or at least any semblance of tight restrictions — to combat the alarming surge.
Meanwhile, Indonesia recorded 12,624 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, marking the highest daily spike since January. Other than Jakarta, a number of regions in the country have also seen a worrying surge, including West Java and Central Java. Cases have been rising following the homecoming exodus known as mudik that occurred around Eid al-Fitr holidays last month.
