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Greater Jakarta residents stay alert but remain calm amid COVID-19 outbreak
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo suggested that the public stay alert but remain calm as the government had taken several measures to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and a large portion of patients had recovered in other countries such as China, Japan and Italy.
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People buy groceries at Carrefour ITC Permata Hijau, South Jakarta, on Monday. Residents say some supermarkets are more crowded than usual following the announcement of the first coronavirus cases in Indonesia. (JP/Donny Fernando)
M
ayumi Marselia, a 21-year-old marketing-communications student at a private university, went grocery shopping on Tuesday at the Super Indo supermarket on Jl. Raya Daan Mogot in Cengkareng district, West Jakarta. Despite having learned about Indonesia's first two confirmed cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), she added only an extra one-month stock of tissues, sanitary pads and instant noodles to her monthly groceries.
"Actually, I am not in a panic. I was just a bit worried that supermarkets would run out of food supplies," said Mayumi, whose parents work as private employees in coronavirus-hit Japan, after she finished grocery shopping on Tuesday. "For masks, I think the sick need them more [than healthy people]."
Mulyati Idris, a 68-year-old resident living in Grogol district in West Jakarta, said she did not come to the outlet to stockpile supplies of instant noodles as she was "not in enough of a panic to buy things in bulk". However, she said she could not buy a hand sanitizer due to short supplies.
Social media users also shared their experience going to supermarkets on Monday and Tuesday, saying that the places were more packed than usual and masks and hand sanitizers were off the shelves.
The shortage of some hygiene products at the supermarket was a result of the public reaction to the confirmation of two confirmed COVID-19 cases in Jakarta on Monday. However, both authorities and business associations urged the public to be vigilant but to stay calm and keep from panic-buying, which could lead to short supplies of food and healthcare equipment.
The COVID-19 outbreak, first identified in the city of Wuhan in Hubei province, China, had infected 88,948 people and led to 3,043 deaths worldwide as of Monday, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Indonesia recorded on Monday its first two confirmed cases of the disease: a 64-year-old and her 31-year-old daughter. The two women are being treated at the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital (RSPI) in North Jakarta.
Depok residents stay calm
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