KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 — The Indonesian government will not announce a lockdown, despite an increasing number of Covid-19 cases.
“I have gathered data about countries that have imposed lockdowns and after analysing them, I don’t think we should go that way,” Indonesian president Jokowi Widodo was quoted as saying by The Jakarta Post.
He further stated that after studying the actions by other nations against the disease, the government decided not to impose a lockdown due to the cultural characteristics and discipline of Indonesians.
However, he called upon the public to practice social distancing and to stay at home to stop the spread of the disease.
“The policy of physical distancing can halt the spread of the disease if people really comply with it,” he added.
Furthermore, Jokowi recommended his regional peers to have in plan a social safety net mechanism for people directly affected by the respective country’s lockdown or restricted movement order policies.
“If regional administrations want to [impose restrictions], they need to thoroughly assess the impact of such policy. They should analyse the number of businesses that would not be able to operate during the lockdown and give financial assistance to people who depend on informal economic activities,” Jokowi urged.
Indonesia, as of Monday, reported 105 new cases, bringing the total number of cases to 790. Three individuals lost their lives to Covid-19 that day, increasing the total number of deaths to 58. It has the third highest number of cases in Southeast Asia.
