Coronavirus: Indonesia’s Widodo plans stricter social distancing rules as thousands flee Jakarta
- The president is ordering large-scale curbs on social activities and tighter restrictions on mobility
- Most of the country’s cases are concentrated in and around the capital, while Indonesia’s death rate is the highest in Southeast Asia
“I’m [now] ordering large-scale social limits, physical distancing needs to be done more sternly, more disciplined, and effectively,” Widodo told a cabinet meeting, stressing that only the central government could decide on regional quarantines.
On Twitter, presidential spokesman Fadjroel Rachman said Widodo had “embarked on a new phase in the fight against Covid19, [with] large-scale curbs on social activities and health quarantines. Only if the situation deteriorates will there be a civil emergency.”
Widodo, also known as Jokowi, said 14,000 people had left Greater Jakarta for the provinces of West, Central and East Java and the special region of Yogyakarta in the past eight days, local media reported on Monday.
Jakarta’s city government on Monday ordered interprovincial bus services and tourist buses to close in a bid to curb the exodus of people returning to their hometowns, as jobs continue to be lost amid the fall in economic activity following the outbreak.
But the country’s transport ministry later put the plan on hold “as directed by President Jokowi”, saying “studies have yet to be conducted” on its economic impact.
