Indonesia Coronavirus Update #20    July 13, 2020

Number of reported cases: 76,981 (as of July 13)
3656 Deaths 36,689 Recoveries
Rupiah to US$: 14,486
Jakarta Stock Exchange Index: 5064
Overview- COVID 19 Case Growth Continues
One could detect this past week President Jokowi’s increasing frustration that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread. Week on week case growth numbers are still above 15% in many provinces: Central Java (22%), East Java (19%), Bali (27%). The figure nationally was 18.5% over the last 7 days. He continued to urge his Ministers and Indonesians to maintain an attitude of crisis and not lapse into complacency. Meanwhile the governor of Jakarta, a region that had bent the curve significantly, may pull back from the gradual opening based on a recent surge in new cases. Governor Anies Baswedan has also delayed school reopening. Authorities in several regions, in particular East Java, expressed concern that local constables are having difficulty enforcing guidelines on wearing masks and social distancing.  Other regions such as Bekasi, an area with factories close to Jakarta, have case numbers under 10.
Reports emerged during the past week of discrepancies in the pandemic data released by the government. Tempo, Indonesia’s leading news weekly, said that on July 3 the government’s COVID-10 task force reported 13,885 whereas the Health Ministry figure was 3,036. The difference seems to be that the task force includes any patient who dies with COVID symptoms, regardless of testing, and the Health Ministry, which only accounts those that have been tested.
Modelling conducted by the University of Indonesia suggests that COVID- 19 infection rates will continue to rise until September or October 2020 unless stricter measures are introduced.
According to WHO’s situation report, Indonesia’s testing capacity is still very low despite an increase in testing efforts.
The head of the COVID-19 task force, Doni Monardo, on Monday acknowledged that many Indonesians continued to believe that the coronavirus pandemic in Indonesia is part of a larger conspiracy theory.
President Jokowi said that Indonesia will begin producing its own vaccine in the first quarter of 2021 and also predicted the pandemic would peak in July-August.
Travel:
Normal tourist and business travel remain restricted but authorities in Bali have released September 11 as a possible date for allowing international travel to the tourist-centric island. The island is beginning to open for Indonesian travelers.
Economic:
  • Possible Q3 Recession: The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to contract 3.8 percent in the second quarter and may shrink by a further 1 percent or grow 1.2 percent in the third quarter, said Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati. A Q3 contraction would mark Indonesia’s first recession since 1998.
  • Successful Retail Bond: Indonesia has raised Rp 18.33 trillion (US$1.27 billion) from government retail bond issuance ORI-017, the Finance Ministry announced on Monday,the highest proceeds ever recorded in an online bond offering by the country as the government struggles to finance its coronavirus response.
(sources: International and Indonesia news media, Bali Update (from balidiscovery.com), Reformasi Weekly)