Heroe Poerwadi, the head of the Yogyakarta COVID-19 task force, said that the special province had implemented “small-scale”social restrictions to allow economic activities to continue in the region. The policy permitted the smallest administrative districts in the region, like villages, to temporarily limit access if a confirmed case emerged.

“This ‘micro’ lockdown aims to curb transmission in only the affected are, while maintaining economic activities in other areas of the region, which relies heavily on tourism,” Heroe said on Sunday as quoted by tempo.co. 

He said the policy was implemented in mid-September, when a new COVID-19 cluster emerged in the province from a street food vendor selling soto Lamongan (Lamongan chicken soup) in Umbulharjo district.

The soto Lamongan cluster resulted in 25 confirmed cases, including the vendor and several customers, as well as tourists who had bought food from other nearby vendors.

Read also: 20 COVID-19 patients linked to 'soto Lamongan' cluster in Yogyakarta

“When the soto Lamongan vendor cluster emerged, [the administration] immediately closed access to and from the village where the vendor was located, with local residents setting up an access point to monitor people’s movements over 10 days,” said Heroe.

He added that Yogyakarta had taken a similar measure in Kotabaru when the subdistrict recorded nine new cases and one COVID-19 death.

“With this type of micro-lockdown, we were able to [contain] the infection and avoid wider transmission of the virus,” he said.

Heroe said that the Yogyakarta administration also encouraged the local people to help each other by providing free meals to residents who were self-isolating at home. The food must be in a container and placed in a certain spot for the self-isolating resident to collect.

Earlier, Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko expressed his support for Yogyakarta's small-scale restrictive measures as a way to keep the economy running in the province, which was dependent on tourism and education.

Meanwhile, Malang is another tourist destination that is also trying to balance its COVID-19 response with the local tourist industry.

Known for its scenic view of the surrounding plateau and its apples, the city is requiring all visitors to present their negative rapid test result to be permitted entry. It is also mandatory for everyone in the city to comply with the health protocols, including wearing masks, washing hands with soap and maintaining physical distance.

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The Malang COVID-19 task force stated that the city had seen a decrease in confirmed cases and an increase in recovered cases. Nevertheless, it was still seeing coronavirus-related deaths.

Malang Mayor Sutiaji said that public compliance with the COVID-19 protocols had contributed to the improvements in its coronavirus figures.

“But we have to stay alert and cautious,” Sutiaji said as quoted by kompas.com on Sunday. 

On Monday, Yogyakarta recorded 2,813 confirmed cases, 2,123 recovered cases and 75 deaths, while Malang recorded 1,823 confirmed cases, 1,575 recovered cases and 177 deaths. (nkn)

 

Editor’s note: This article is part of a public campaign by the national COVID-19 task force (Satgas COVID-19) to raise awareness about the health emergency.