With little guidance, people have worked together to organize fundraisers, sought medical supplies and equipment and arranged for the supply of hand washing facilities and disinfectants. 

A civil emergency is far more overreaching than a quarantine or large-scale restriction because of its repercussions on civil liberties.

Local administrations may have chosen to handle the tests with care as field medical workers are not well protected. But with only a few thousands tests, little can be expected from the effort, especially when people have to wait for days for results.

We second the government’s decision, if it comes, to ban the traditional mudik (exodus) this year. But as pleas for physical distancing and avoiding crowds have not been too effective, we urge immediate partial lockdowns or quarantine; either by islands or provinces.  

The point is to accelerate budget disbursement and ensure targeted spending to prioritize health care, the social safety net and incentives for small businesses.

There is no silver bullet in the fight against the pandemic. Countries need to tailor their strategies according to their conditions and available resources. 

But even if productivity is sacrificed as many are not prepared for or perhaps misuse the remote working policy, there are many benefits that can trade off the losses, apart from defeating the coronavirus. 

Reliable data on these groups of people made vulnerable by the health crisis and its economic ramifications will determine the effectiveness of well-targeted social assistance programs. 

They have worked in isolation rooms, in clinics, in regular hospital wards and in the morgues, sometimes without proper protection. Some handle patients wearing cheap, thin plastic raincoats modified to resemble hazmat suits. 

The government must do whatever is necessary to control people’s movements to stop the spread of the virus. Among legal frameworks it has the 2018 Health Quarantine Law.

In times of uncertainty, it is good to set rules because rules provide a sense of order and control. The government also needs to be clear in explaining any new rules and why they are important in the fight against the virus.

With or without the Olympics, however, we will continue to endure this boring world as we miss sports action on our TV screens in the coming few weeks or months.

After weeks of relying too much on our native “good immunity” and divine intervention, Indonesia’s method of handling the COVID-19 outbreak has begun to fall apart.

The fact that regional governments have already taken initiatives to protect their respective peoples is evidence of the central government’s indecisiveness and foot-dragging in a time of crisis.

The government’s ineptitude is frustrating not only for the anxious public who fears contagion but also for local administrations, which are at the frontline to battle the disease.

At the end of the day, health insurance, while important, remains a tool we need in a state of emergency.

What’s worrying is that the government has yet to become a trusted authority at this time of crisis.

The fiscal stimulus from the Finance Ministry will help the hardest-hit sector of tourism and its related businesses, which are all labor-intensive, and protect the purchasing power of the poorest segment of the people.

Between engaging in an itinerary rife with callbacks to the past and calling for a relationship that is forwardlooking, both sides should go above and beyond the expectations of their two peoples.

Then there's the tough job of having to make the consequential decision of voting between two candidates who are so diametrically opposed to one another that even when one figure comes out on top, the party’s unity would be at risk.

We need bold men who are not afraid of being sneered at when they stand up for policies and measures that are sensitive to the needs of diverse genders, including sexual and gender minorities.

What we badly need now in coping with the most pressing health and economic problems caused by the novel coronavirus (we do not know for how long) is a powerful coordinating management and even a sort of crisis management or nerve center directly under the President and comprising related ministers and business leaders.

Details of the patients quickly made rounds on social media, another display of cavalier attitudes about privacy among Indonesian citizens and, worse, the media.

Economic stability is important, but at a time of a possible global pandemic, public health should be top the priority as it can affect the strong economic fundamentals built over decades.

With the announcement of the first infections on home soil, people are anxious about whether the two people testing positive for the virus are just the tip of the iceberg. 

There is no reason for Indonesia to do less or overstate its coronavirus status. It would be more useful for all resources, including funding, to be allocated to help improve public health efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus.

At the very least, pilgrims should be able to expect their governments and pilgrimage agencies to work to ensure their rights are upheld. Stranded passengers need support to cover their unexpected needs, such as transportation and accommodation.

 Though confirmed infections have not been found in this country, we are constantly reminded to not be complacent, given our vast territory and population.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, other regional leaders and even President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo seem to be comfortable with the argument that the flood mitigation infrastructure is still under construction, and hence, residents should be patient.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s resignation on Monday sent shockwaves through the country’s political establishment in a seemingly calculated yet unexpected move.