Easing Social Restrictions Needs Caution

The plan to relax social restrictions should be reviewed for its appropriateness and implemented with caution. No data indicates any significant decline in Covid-19 cases.

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Bumper-to-bumper traffic is seen on Monday (11/5/2020) along the Pancoran-Semanggi section of Jl. Gatot Subroto in South Jakarta. A number of roads in Jakarta remain congested despite the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB). Tighter social restrictions and public compliance to the PSBB are needed while the daily tally of new Covid-19 cases remains high.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS—Various circles, including the House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker, have called on the government to exercise caution before deciding to relax social restrictions. The call was based on several factors, including an evaluation that the reported data did not reflect the actual condition due the government’s limited Covid-19 testing capacity.

Besides, in terms of the economy, relaxation without adequate Covid-19 control measures would be incapable of raising public demand to any significant levels. As long as the daily increase in new cases remains high, the public would refrain from spending.

To prevent the spread of Covid-19, several regions have applied the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB), with four provinces and 14 regencies/municipalities adopting the policy by Sunday.

Relaxing the policy should be determined on a flattened and stable curve of confirmed cases in the region.

Jakarta, for instance, originally enforced the PSBB on 10-24 April 2020 and later extended it to 22 May. During the PSBB, all activities that involve more than five people are banned. Social events such as weddings and circumcision rituals are permitted, but without a reception.

Eight industries and sectors apart from government institutions are permitted to continue operating under the PSBB: health, food, energy, communications, logistics and distribution, daily needs retail, restaurants and food vendors, and strategic industries.

In a statement received by Kompas on Monday (11/5/2020), DPR Speaker Puan Maharani expressed hope that the government would be cautious before deciding on relaxing the PSBB in a region. Relaxing the policy should be determined on a flattened and stable curve of confirmed cases in the region. The daily data released by the national Covid-19 task force has continued to fluctuate.

Also read : The Peak of the Pandemic is Difficult to Determine

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Public law and order officers escort a man, identified as a person with social welfare and community problems (PMKS), from a large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) patrol area on Monday (11/5/2020) in Cawang, East Jakarta. The patrols enforce the PSBB, including wearing masks in public and in vehicles, and also conduct identity card checks on homeless people. The PSBB patrols have been active during the month-long implementation of the PSBB in Jakarta to break the chain of Covid-19 transmission.

The task force reported 292, 349, 395 and 484 new cases respectively from 2 May to 5 May. New cases appeared to decline on 6-8 May with respectively 367, 338 and 336. The daily tally then increased again on 9 May with 533 new cases, while 10-11 May respectively recorded 387 and 233 new cases.

“Other data shows that the daily PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing rate has not yet reached the target as set by the President at 5,000 samples [tested] daily, or half of the target of 10,000 samples daily,” said Puan.

In her view, it was very important that the decision to relax the PSBB be based on complete and accurate analytical data. This was intended to prevent an increase in the number of new cases of infection. Therefore, Puan suggested the government conduct a simulation of relaxing the policy to observe its impacts.

By Monday, Indonesia had recorded 14,265 confirmed cases, with 991 deaths and 2,881 recovered cases.

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Epidemiologist and biostatistician Pandu Riono of the University of Indonesia, when contacted from Jakarta on Sunday, said that the low and slow rate of testing was the main cause of the epidemic curve’s failure to reflect the actual condition in Indonesia. Caution was required for the government to avoid taking further measures that were mistaken.

The date of the public announcements as recorded in the graphs also did not indicate that the transmission of a case actually occurred on that date. The timeline only reflected the number of positive test results that came out on a particular date. According to Pandu, the interval between collecting a sample and the publication of the test result was prolonged and varied, ranging from two days to a week or more.

Also read : Inaccurate Data Is the Source of the Problem

Epidemiologist Panji Hadisoemarto of Padjadjaran University in Bandung, said on Monday at a Laporcovid19.org webinar that the government’s plan to start easing the PSBB by reopening public transportation and offices could risk triggering an epidemic explosion.

“I think it’s premature to reactivate the economy unless there is valid data indicating that active cases have been minimized,” he added.

Also read : Technical Guidelines Should be Immediately Issued

KOMPAS/TATANG MULYANA SINAGA

Shoppers browse the stall of a vegetable seller on Monday (11/5/2020) at Kosambi market in Bandung municipality, West Java. Although most traders and shoppers wore masks, the tightly packed stalls of the market were still crowded, reflecting the poor implementation of physical distancing at traditional markets in Bandung.

President Joko Widodo also noted on Sunday that the Covid-19 testing rate had reached only 4,000 to 5,000 samples per day. “It’s still far [below] the target I’ve set [of] 10,000 samples per day,” he said during a meeting at Merdeka Palace, Jakarta.

Meanwhile, compliance risk management director Ahmad Siddik Badruddin of Bank Mandiri said on Monday that the economy could be restarted if consumer spending returned to normal. On the other hand, consumers would regain confidence and resume spending when the Covid-19 outbreak had subsided.

“As long as the condition remains unstable and new cases continue to rise, people will hesitate over buying durable goods. Today, people are focused on buying only food or primary needs,” Ahmad said in a teleconference with Kompas editors.

Objections

Despite the central government mulling over plans to relaxing the PSBB, the West Sumatra administration is unprepared to ease the restrictions imposed on the province. West Sumatra will instead tighten the PSBB because of the high increase in confirmed Covid-19 cases.

The governor has stated that there will be no relaxation. It has been even strengthened now.

West Sumatra Deputy Governor Nasrul Abit said on Monday in Padang that the province was a Covid-19 “red zone” and that the number of cases continued to rise, so it would not be relaxing the PSBB, which was now in its second phase from 6 to 29 May. “The governor has stated that there will be no relaxation. It has been even strengthened now,” he said.

By Monday (11/5), West Sumatra had recorded 299 confirmed cases, with an average daily increase of 14-15 new cases from Monday (4/5) to Sunday (10/5). Of its 299 cases, 17 had resulted in the patient’s death, 67 had recovered and 130 were still undergoing treatment at several hospitals. The remainder were in isolation.

As Kompas reported on Sunday (10/5), the government was anticipating that new Covid-19 cases would peak at the end of May and gradually decline thereafter. The economy was also expected to return to normal gradually, and the PSBB policy would be adjusted to match. The government also affirmed that relaxing the PSBB would not ease the Covid-19 health protocol.

(REK/DIM/SPW/JOL/INA/AIK/TAN)