Jogo Tonggo Program Put to Test against Covid-19
The number of Covid-19 confirmed cases and deaths in Central Java have increased during the mudik (exodus) travel season, based on the mudik pattern from previous years.
At the end of April, Central Java had a cumulative total of 665 confirmed Covid-19 cases across the province’s 31 regencies/municipalities, including several regencies like Brebes that had no confirmed cases.
However, data on 26 May 2020 showed that confirmed cases in Central Java had more than doubled to 1,371 in a single month. The disease had also spread to all 31 regencies/municipalities in the province.
The number of new daily cases increased by 443 during this period alone, averaging 36 new cases per day.
The latest data on the Central Java Covid-19 website (https://corona.jatengprov.go.id/) shows a strong correlation between mudik and the increase in cases. During the 12-day period spanning 10 days before Idul Fitri to the second day of the holiday, the cumulative tally of confirmed cases in Central Java increased from 905 to 1,348. The number of new daily cases increased by 443 during this period alone, averaging 36 new cases per day.
The figures are high in comparison with the trend in the province during the previous month, which averaged 29 new cases per day.
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Meanwhile, the cumulative data on Covid-19 transmission over the 12-day mudik period noted 10 additional deaths in Central Java. This indicates an average of one death per day or every two days in the province.
Irony
The significant increase in confirmed cases and deaths in Central Java seem ironic, seeing that Central Java initiated the Jogo Tonggo (neighborhood watch) program to curb the spread of Covid-19 on 27 April 2020, about before until Idul Fitri.
Jogo Tonggo was first launched in Greater Semarang, which covers Semarang municipality, Salatiga municipality and the regencies of Semarang, Demak, Kendal and Grobogan.
The Semarang administration expressed in a press release dated 24 April 2020 (https://humas.jatengprov.go.id/detail_berita_gubernur?id=4257) its belief that the spread of Covid-19 would be contained more effectively in small areas like villages and community settlements, and that the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) was more difficult to manage in view of the vast region it must cover.
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The Jogo Tonggo program involves the participation of all residents and communities in its Covid-19 prevention efforts, including local youth groups, the Dasa Wisma group of 10 housewives, posyandu (integrated health posts), village midwives, agricultural extension workers, Linmas (neighborhood security groups), community unit (RW) leaders and non-RW groups.
Individual Jogo Tonggo task forces are in charge of ensuring the participation of all residents in their areas in the fight against Covid-19 transmission and infection. In addition, they also ensure that they have external support to combat Covid-19 in a targeted and appropriate manner.
Nonetheless, the continued increase in Covid-19 cases in Central Java raises the question about the effectiveness of the Jogo Tonggo program when compared to the PSBB, as it has been less than optimal in reducing the virus’s transmission.
Derailed by ‘mudik’
With the current increasing trend in Covid-19 cases in Central Java, it seems reasonable to conclude that the spirit of public solidarity in preventing Covid-19 transmission through Jogo Tonggo has more or less been derailed by the influx of mudik travelers.
On 23 April 2020, one day before the mudik ban was enforced, 676,178 travelers arrived in Central Java on mudik. So following the ban’s enactment on 24 April 2020, mudik arrivals should have ceased. Even if mudik travelers continued to arrive, their number should have declined. Nevertheless, these travelers might come from regions outside PSBB or “red zones” of high infection.
Yet the data reflects a different fact. One day after Idul Fitri on 25 May 2020, Central Java recorded a cumulative total of 905,032 mudik travelers who had arrived in their hometowns in the province.
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Subtracting the mudik arrivals on 23 April before the ban was imposed, at least 228,000 people allegedly violated the government’s mudik ban, especially if they came from Covid-19 red zones.
Private vehicles dominated these arrivals’ mode of transportation. From 24 April-25 May, at least 179,880 travelers entered Central Java using private vehicles.
This figure is almost five times the nearly 49,000 travelers that used public transportation to enter the province while the mudik ban was in effect. The data also illustrates that mudik travelers used a variety of transportation modes.
Other findings published in the mass media also indicate that the movement of mudik travelers caused a sharp hike in Covid-19 cases. For instance, two Islamic school students who returned home to Blora from Temboro, East Java, have tested positive for Covid-19.
A separate report mentioned that several Greater Jakarta residents traveled on mudik to Banyumas and Grobogan regencies, only to test positive for Covid-19 upon arriving at their destinations. There was even a mudik traveler from Banjarmasin municipality, Central Kalimantan, who died as a confirmed case in Central Java.
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Policy loophole
Since the government allowed public transportation to resume, all transportation modes have seen a spike in passenger numbers. Public transportation to Central Java from 7-24 May carried 14,300 passengers by bus, 220 passengers by train, 1,617 passengers by ship and 1,700 passengers by plane. These figures represent significant increases, especially among non-bus transportation that had halted operations on 24 April-6 May because of the mudik ban.
Of the 31 regencies/municipalities in Central Java, at least three regencies/municipalities have recorded the highest numbers of arrivals in the period following the mudik ban. The three regencies are Wonosobo, Brebes and Pemalang, each of which saw more than 20,000 arrivals since 24 April.
It is important to realize that no matter how good regional efforts may be, they cannot achieve optimum results without central government support.
The large numbers of mudik travelers using public transportation to reach Central Java should be given due attention. Did these passengers intend to return to their hometowns? Did they meet all the mandatory health protocols?
These two questions are the minimum starting point to examine the central-regional synergy Covid-19 management and control. It is most likely that the upsurge in Covid-19 cases in Central Java was not due merely to the failure of the province’s Jogo Tonggo program.
It is important to realize that no matter how good regional efforts may be, they cannot achieve optimum results without central government support.
Furthermore, the cultural approach and spirit of solidarity that depends on mutual awareness among all residents in a community may have two sides. On one hand, the spirit of solidarity can be a strength in the success of the Jogo Tonggo program. On the other, however, cultural solidarity requires tolerance. It is tolerance that seems to have put the consistent implementation of the Jogo Tonggo program to the test, as community members must maintain their health while battling noncompliant neighbors at the same time.
[KOMPAS RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT]