West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil says his administration is considering implementing a curfew to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Indonesia’s most populous province.
The governor yesterday said that more social restrictions need to be put in place on top of the ongoing social distancing campaign.
“[Social distancing] has not been done to the max. I carried out inspections at several regencies and it was evident that not a lot of effort has been put into it,” Ridwan Kamil said, as quoted by Kompas.
“We are leaning towards instructing cities and regencies to impose an evening curfew. This is part of a process to discipline and to conduct large-scale social restrictions in West Java. The West Java Police chief has approved.”
Specifics about the planned curfew have yet to be announced, but Ridwan Kamil said such restrictions are necessary, citing studies from local universities predicting that the peak of the outbreak in the province would likely fall in May.
President Joko Widodo last week instructed regional heads not to enforce social restriction policies related to COVID-19 without approval from the central government. West Java, like Jakarta, has requested the central government’s approval for the enforcement of the Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) policy, which essentially imposes the same social distancing measures parts of Indonesia affected by COVID-19 have seen since the outbreak began in earnest last month, with some additional measures and stricter enforcement.
Curfews seem to be outside of the central government’s purview as other regions have banned social activities from the evening to early morning, including Balikpapan, East Kalimantan and Pekalongan, Central Java.
Bekasi, one of the largest cities in West Java, has already enforced a curfew, banning social activities from 9pm until an unspecified time in the morning. Adults caught violating the curfew will be forced to stay overnight at a temporary shelter, whereas children will be sent home.
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West Java, which has a population of 48.6 million, has the second highest provincial COVID-19 caseload in Indonesia, behind only Jakarta. As of April 6, 263 people have been confirmed to have the disease, while 29 people have died and 13 have recovered.
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