The Transportation Ministry restricted all passenger travel starting on Friday as the government attempts to prevent citizens from participating in mudik to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Within the first five hours after the Transportation Ministry's travel restrictions were officially enacted, the Jakarta Police had stopped over 1,000 motorists attempting to leave Greater Jakarta.

"From 12 a.m to 5 a.m, a total of 1,181 motorists were asked to turn around," Jakarta Police traffic director Sr. Comr. Sambodo Purnomo Yogo said in a written statement on Friday.

Some 498 motorists were stopped at the Bitung tollgate heading toward Merak, Banten, while 683 motorists were stopped at the Cikarang tollgate heading toward West Java.

Sambodo said vehicle checkpoints had been set up in 18 posts around Jakarta's border and that police would start issuing fines to motorists who persisted in trying to leave the city starting on May 8.

Jakarta is considered the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, with at least 3,798 confirmed cases and 353 deaths as of Sunday. 

In East Java - another province hit hard by the virus, with at least 785 confirmed cases - the provincial administration has set up eight checkpoints to monitor people who leave or enter the province.

Seven checkpoints have been established along its western border with Central Java, located in Tuban, Bojonegoro, Ngawi, Magetan, Ponorogo, Pacitan and in a toll road in Mantingan district, Ngawi. On its eastern border, a checkpoint has been set set up at Ketapang Port in Banyuwangi regency, the main access point to East Java from the neighboring island of Bali. 

East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa, however, said the checkpoints were not aimed at preventing people from participating in mudik, but to check people's travel documents, body temperature, and to make sure they obeyed the physical distancing policy during their journey.  

In Surabaya, East Java, a husband and wife were stranded at Juanda International Airport on Friday following the suspension of domestic and overseas flights - commercial and chartered - from and to airports managed by Angkasa Pura I.

"I already bought the tickets, but I just recently found out about the ban. My wife and I don't know what to do as we couldn't fly home," Andro Liem, a resident of Batam, Riau province, said on Friday as quoted by Tribunnews. 

The couple, who came to East Java for business matters, were offered a refund or reschedule by the airlines. However, with no relatives in East Java, both are anxious about the financial cost of staying longer in the province.

"I have a 10-month-old child at home in Batam. I will be very worried if I can't go home. The regulation to curb COVID-19 shouldn't be like this," Andro Liem's wife, who refused to be identified, said.

In East Kotawaringin, Central Kalimantan, some travelers were surprised to find that all commercial voyages to and from Sampit Port had been stopped.

"I thought the mudik ban would be implemented later," said Yogi, a resident of Temanggung, Central Java, as quoted by Antara news agency.

Yogi said he arrived in East Kotawaringin two months ago for business matters and had planned to come back to his hometown for Idul Fitri. The father of two now has to spend Ramadan and Idul Fitri away from his family as Sampit Airport has been closed as well.

In Bali, however, some West Nusa Tenggara residents were allowed to leave the province via Padangbai Port and return to their hometowns, under certain conditions.

"West Nusa Tenggara residents with ID who have been terminated from their jobs and have nowhere else to go are still permitted to come back to West Nusa Tenggara," Padangbai Port Authority head Ni Luh Putu Eka Suyasmin said on Saturday as quoted by Antara News Agency.

Annually, some 20 million people from Greater Jakarta travel to their hometowns to celebrate Idul Fitri with their families.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo earlier announced his decision to ban mudik after reviewing a Transportation Ministry survey showing that 24 percent of respondents had plans to travel home.

The same survey indicated that around 7 percent of respondents had already left on mudik trips.

Asip Hasani contributed to the article from Blitar, East Java.