Indonesia Corona Virus #13    May 26, 2020

Number of reported cases: 23,165 (as of May 26) 1418 Deaths 5877 Recoveries 

  • Reported Cases Rate Drops: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Indonesia increased by 479 on Monday – the lowest single-day rise since May 12 – to take the country’s total to 22,750. It followed another sharp decline on Sunday when daily cases were put at 526 – 44 percent lower than the previous day. However, the downward trend in the past two days could be attributed to the Idul Fitri holidays, when many testing facilities were operating at less than full capacity. Also, Saturday had the second-highest reported number of cases at 949, with 466 from East Java.
  • Fear of a Spike:Indonesia celebrated the end of the fasting month over the weekend. Although the mass exodus from Jakarta was down 60% from previous years due to social restrictions, National Covid-19 Task Force spokesman Achmad Yurianto said the large number of people violating the health protocol during the Islamic holidays on Sunday and Monday will more than likely result in new confirmed cases next week, a prediction based on the average incubation period of the virus.
  • Government Commits to Opening with Restrictions:Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said Indonesia would not compromise on the health of its population to reboot the country’s economy after enduring months-long slowdown amid pandemic-related restrictions.  “There is no trade-off between health and the economy. Both are like conjoined twins who are not separated. If there is no health, there is no economy, and vice versa,” Sri Mulyani said on her social media account on over the weekend. Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said the government would base its decision on loosening the restriction on epidemiological evidence.
  • Jakarta Requires Entry/Exit Permits: The Jakarta provincial government will turn away visitors and returning residents trying to enter the city without an entry permit, or SIKM, after the Idul Fitri holiday. Despite the government’s mudik ban, thousands of Jakartans reportedly made the journey to their hometowns last week, despite fears it could prompt further rises in coronavirus transmission. Now they might not be able to return to their homes in the capital for at least some time.  Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said police, municipal police and military officers will be deployed at ten checkpoints in Greater Jakarta to screen people trying to enter the capital. “If you don’t carry an entry permit, you will be turned away. Only workers in essential sectors are allowed to come into the city: health, food, energy, communication, finance, logistics, construction, hospitality and strategic industries,” Anies said in Jakarta on Monday. Entry permits are obtained based on letters from a hospital comfiming a negative result on on a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. Garuda Airlines will require the SIKM permit and medical letters before passengers can board.
  • New Stimulus Package The government is rolling out a Rp 641.17 trillion (US$43 billion) economic recovery stimulus, bigger than previous allocations, to soften the impact of COVID-19 on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), as well as state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the “national economic recovery” program would include a strengthened social safety net, tax incentives, capital injections into SOEs and interest rate subsidies for MSMEs, among other measures.

(sources: International and Indonesia news media, Bali Update (from balidiscovery.com), Reformasi Weekly)