The July 3 to 20 emergency public activity restrictions (PPKM-Darurat), the moniker given to the government’s latest pandemic policy, are meant to curb this second wave, which has driven healthcare systems across Java to the brink of collapse.

In the grand scheme of things, we welcome this policy, knowing that in a time of crisis, all mitigation measures are worth supporting, even if they may be insufficient.

Epidemiologists may say that this policy is too little, too late to contain the spread of the new virus strain, whose transmissibility has changed the game in the global pandemic fight. But we believe that the bigger problem is not the policy itself, the efficacy of which is subject to debate, but the Joko “Jokowi” Widodo administration’s overall pandemic strategy, which is more oriented toward protecting the economy than saving lives.

Safeguarding the economy has been the principle underpinning the pandemic policies of the administration since day one. This is why a coordinating economic minister was appointed to lead the national COVID-19 task force. This is why the government refused to heed calls for strict, large-scale lockdowns when it was clear the country was heading into a catastrophic second wave. This is why the government has set unrealistic vaccination targets. This is why people losing their lives to the virus are treated as mere statistics to be reported – collateral damage to be sustained to keep the economy alive.

But they are more than just numbers. They are our friends, relatives and fellow citizens, who expected nothing more than for their government to keep them alive.

We cannot afford to maintain this paradigm, not because it will prolong the pandemic and, in the long term, cripple the economy anyway, but because it has put the greatest burden on the shoulders of the people. In the past two weeks alone, the virus has killed more than 5,000 people, including dozens of health workers.

As cases soar and overwhelm hospitals, many have died after failing to get treatment, indicating how dire the situation is today. And yet President Jokowi does not seem to show the slightest awareness of how the “economy over health” policy has impacted people. That he chose to fly to Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, to attend the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) congress while hospitals across Java were grappling with a deluge of COVID-19 cases speaks volumes about his priorities during these trying times.

The new lockdown policy may slow down the current case surge, however little, but it was certainly designed with the notion of the economy above all else. Until the government changes its paradigm, people will continue to pay the highest price in fighting the pandemic.

We cannot bring back those who perished, but the President alone can change the course of this war.