The Jakarta administration’s sluggish delivery of crucial social assistance funds in response to the COVID-19 outbreak is putting the city’s underprivileged citizens at a higher risk of slipping into destitution the longer the crisis stretches on.

The Jakarta administration has extended the closure of tourist destinations and entertainment venues for 17 days starting on Friday as part of the capital’s effort to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Nearly 4,400 burials occurred in March, 40 percent higher than any month since at least January 2018.

As many as 20,532 people across the capital city have undergone COVID-19 rapid testing, with 428 of them having tested positive for the disease.

“The food supply is enough for the needs leading up to Ramadan and through Idul Fitri,” Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said during an online video conference with Vice President Ma’ruf Amin on Thursday.

Regional funds earmarked for urgent expenditures, land acquisitions as well as the preparation for the delayed Formula E electric vehicle race have been reallocated to help the capital city fight the COVID-19 outbreak.

Not all Greater Jakarta city and regency leaders are on the same page as Anies.

Social Affairs Ministry launches assistance program to help residents impacted by COVID-19 pandemic.

The governor said he needed greater authority because Jakarta, the national epicenter of the outbreak, bordered with cities that fall within two neighboring provinces. The cities are Bogor, Depok and Bekasi in West Java and Tangerang in Banten.

The Jakarta administration reported 38 bodies were buried using the COVID-19 funeral protocol on Thursday morning alone.

The Jakarta administration, through city-owned enterprise PT Jakarta Tourisindo (Jaktour), has started recruiting psychologists willing to voluntarily provide counseling sessions for medical staff on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19 in Jakarta.

Through a circular, the BPTJ suggests transportation agencies and companies in Greater Jakarta temporarily stop some or all inter-regional transportation services.

A number of parents of University of Indonesia students are providing free food to students from outside the Greater Jakarta area who are currently staying within or near the university's compound in Depok, West Java, during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Fahrul’s dismissal comes after photos of the wedding, which was held on March 21, went viral on social media over the past few days, with many criticizing the police officer’s apparent hypocrisy.

As economic activities continue to get battered by the effects of COVID-19, 38-year-old vegetable trader Endah “Betty” Widiarti has found a way to survive despite having lost customers at her shop in Rumput Market in Setiabudi, South Jakarta.

The Jakarta administration has enlisted the help of local authorities as part of wider efforts to curb the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the capital, which is the national epicenter of the epidemic that has infected more than 1600 people nationwide and killed 157.

The 282 people are to undergo further screening by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests using swabs to confirm the initial results.

A 51-year-old male pedestrian was killed when he was hit by a car in the Lippo Karawaci housing complex in Tangerang, Banten.

Acting transportation minister Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, who is the Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister, sought to have an assessment on the economic impact of such a policy, which might prevent Jakarta residents from going to their hometowns for mudik (exodus), according to the Transportation Ministry’s spokeswoman Ardita Irawati.

“This shows that the situation in Jakarta is very concerning. That is why I am asking the public to see the numbers not as only as statistics. They were our fellow residents and were healthy just a month ago," Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said his administration had sent a letter to the government proposing a quarantine in line with the 2018 Health Quarantine Law. 

Bus routes connecting Jakarta and other cities and provinces will remain open following the cancellation of a plan to temporarily suspend operations of Greater Jakarta-based intercity and interprovincial (AKAP) buses.

All toll roads in the city will continue to operate normally, Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Yusri Yunus has said.

Home to more than 10 million people, Indonesia’s capital is already the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, but it may have to deal with a sixfold increase in infections that experts say the city administration would not be ready to handle.

The Jakarta Transportation Agency plans to temporarily suspend the operation of Greater Jakarta-based intercity and interprovincial (AKAP) buses starting at 6 p.m. on Monday.

Seventeen trains from Gambir Station, nine trains from Pasar Senen Station and two trains from Jakarta Kota Station will not be operating from April 1 to May 1.

Transportation Ministry land transportation director general Budi Setyadi said that the ministry, in coordination with the National Police's traffic corps, had developed a plan including so-called "stopping posts" at toll gates and along other roads to and from Greater Jakarta. 

With millions of Jakartans urged to stay at home to slow the spread of COVID-19, city-owned market operator Pasar Jaya has provided a home shopping service involving sellers in more than 20 markets.

The state of emergency, stay-at-home instruction and closure of schools and tourist destinations has been extended to April 19.

The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) has donated thousands of items to help meet the basic needs of medical workers standing on the front line in the battle against COVID-19.