Covid-19: Parts of Indonesia under two-week partial lockdown
COVID-19 | Parts of Indonesia across its two most populated islands - Java and Bali - have been placed under a new two-week partial lockdown starting from today, as Malaysians similarly brace for fresh restrictions to curb the third wave of Covid-19 infections.
As Indonesia prepares to start its vaccination drive later this week, the targeted restrictions followed record highs in new cases, with more than 10,000 daily infections reported nationwide over the weekend, and a cumulative nationwide total of 206,122 active cases.
With an average population of over 10 million residents, official government data revealed that Indonesia's capital of Jakarta yesterday recorded 2,711 new cases, bringing its total number of infections to 206,122, the highest figure across 34 provinces.
On Saturday, The Jakarta Post quoted Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan as saying the restrictions were aimed at preventing hospitals from being overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients and staff from stretching thin.
"Our active cases hit its highest point — 17,383 people [on Thursday]. These active cases are people who tested positive for Covid-19 and have yet to recover; they are undergoing treatment at health facilities or self-isolation," said Anies.
For comparison, Malaysia with a population of over 30 million people registered a record high of 3,027 new cases nationwide on Jan 7.
The numbers have averaged around 2,000 daily cases so far this month, bringing the total of number of active cases to 27,332 as of yesterday.
Meanwhile, Indonesia's resort island of Bali recorded 169 new cases, including 14 interstate travellers.
For two weeks beginning Jan 1, all foreign visitors were once again banned from entering Bali, partly to curb an anticipated increase of cases from New Year celebrations and extended Christmas holidays.
On the new restrictions, various Indonesian news sites reported measures similar to Malaysia's initial movement control order (MCO) phase, including limitations on opening hours for businesses; a 75 percent work from home arrangement; a 50 percent capacity in houses of worships; and 25 percent dine-in capacity in restaurants.
Interstate travels between Java and Bali, as well as from both areas to other parts of Indonesia, will also be regulated through a mandatory submission of a negative RT-PCR test result or negative swab test done at latest three days before the date of travel.
Last week, Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has sounded the alarm on the state of the Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia, prescribing a "targeted" version of the MCO to reduce the strain on the healthcare system.
The disease has also become deadlier, having claimed 80 people already in the first 10 days of 2021 alone.
Rather than the "one size fits all" approach of last year’s MCO, Noor Hisham at the time explained that the proposed new strategy involved different rules for different states, with "red zone" areas placed under stricter restrictions including travel bans.
Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Friday reportedly said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin would be making an announcement of the updated SOPs later today, following discussions during their meeting with the National Security Council (NSC).
