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COVID-19: Jakarta to restrict visitors after Idul Fitri
The Jakarta administration is preparing a regulation to limit the number of people entering the capital city, the country’s COVID-19 epicenter, after the Ramadan and Idul Fitri holiday season.
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An official from the West Java Transportation Agency stops motorists in Kalimalang, Bekasi, West Java, on Monday. Authorities have created checkpoints on roads leading out of Jakarta to prevent ‘mudik’ (exodus) travelers from leaving the city. (Antara/Fakhri Hermansyah)
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akarta will continue restricting the number of people entering the capital after Idul Fitri to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the city following the government’s mudik (exodus) ban.
Governor Anies Baswedan said the Jakarta administration was preparing a regulation to limit the number of people entering the capital city, the country’s COVID-19 epicenter, after the Ramadan and Idul Fitri holiday season.
This year, the holiday of Idul Fitri will begin on the evening of May 23.
“Jakarta residents are advised not to leave the city to return to their hometowns, as urged by President [Joko “Jokowi” Widodo],” Anies said during a press briefing on Friday. “If you leave the city, you may not be able to come back soon.”
Read also: COVID-19: 'Mudik' ban catches travelers flat-footed
After initially advising residents against participating in mudik, the government officially banned the homecoming tradition for this year on April 21 in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Authorities reported that traffic on toll roads throughout Greater Jakarta, including those leading to and from the city, had reduced, although some travelers still managed to leave the urban area by hiding in trucks or bus luggage compartments to pass through checkpoints undetected.
Jakarta has prolonged large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) until May 22. The policy allows the administration to suspend the operation of schools, places of worship and workplaces, with exemptions for essential sectors.
While claiming that PSBB had effectively reduced the spread of the virus in the capital, Anies urged citizens to remain vigilant as Jakarta was still seeing new cases daily.
Read also: Jakarta's curve flattened? Experts question government's claim
The governor added during the Friday press briefing that the administration would distribute 20 million masks to citizens – two masks per person – as it wanted to encourage people to wear them to limit the transmission of the virus.
The provincial administration will distribute social aid packages ahead of Idul Fitri to “more than 1.2 million families”. These will be in addition to the central government’s food aid.
As of Friday, Indonesia had reported 10,551 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 800 fatalities. Jakarta, with 4,317 cases, accounted for about 41 percent of the nation’s total cases.
