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Residents told to stay at home for 2 weeks as Jakarta goes into partial lockdown
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has urged all residents to stay at home for the next 14 days as the capital city imposed large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) on Friday to cut the chain of COVID-19 spread.
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A worker carrying a plywood board passes a banner put up by Bidara Cina residents in East Jakarta on Wednesday. The banner states that the alley of the area where the residents lived is temporarily closed to prevent the spread of Covid-19. (JP/P.J.Leo)
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akarta Governor Anies Baswedan has urged all residents to stay at home for the next 14 days as the capital city imposed large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) on Friday to cut the chain of COVID-19 spread. Jakarta is the first province in the country to enforce a partial lockdown after its request was approved by the Health Ministry.
Gubernatorial Decree No. 22/2020, which serves as the legal bases for the restrictions, stipulates rules to follow up the Health Ministry regulation on the matter.
“All residents are expected to stay at home for the next two weeks,” Anies said at a press conference on Thursday evening.
He also urged everyone to abandon any outside activities in order to prevent COVID-19 transmission in the capital city, which is the epicenter of the outbreak in Indonesia.
“Our purpose is not to ask everyone to stay at home, but to save our lives, save our families, our neighbors and colleagues, and to check the spread of the virus,” Anies added.
He further explained that, with the policy in place starting Friday, all companies must stop activities in their offices and send their employees to work from home. All offices must follow through, except government offices, diplomatic and international organizations and state-owned as well as city-owned enterprises. Businesses spared in the policy include those in the sectors of health, food supply, energy, communication and information technology, finance, logistics, construction, strategic industries, and basic services that serve everyday needs.
He said food vendors were allowed to remain open, but only to serve takeouts.
“The point is not to stop restaurant activity but the interaction of people [in restaurants],” Anies said.
The decree also restricts people’s mobility by limiting operational hours of public transportation and the capacity of vehicles within the Jakarta area.
“People are barred from using vehicles except to meet their basic needs,” he said, adding that everyone going outside was obliged to wear a mask.
The decree also allows for criminal charges for violations of the PSBB. Violators face up to one year of imprisonment and a fine of up to Rp 100 million (US$6,342), as stipulated in the 2018 Health Quarantine Law.
“Let us make this [14-day period] a point of reference. We can send a message across Indonesia and to the world that we can limit activities outside with discipline. Hopefully, we don’t have to extend [the period],” he added.
