I have to say just for once: The cities across the planet have become a bit like a ghost town because of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 19) pandemic. There are now more than 1 million infections across the globe, and I guess it’s safe to say that this disease would peak in the next month or two, with current situation where some thick-headed individuals who just won’t stay inside their houses. Among those 1 million (1,6 million to be exact as of today), The United States of America has now recorded almost 470.000 confirmed cases. That’s around 310.000 cases more than Italy’s record, which is also the most among continental Europe. It’s also exasperated by the fact that no social distancing policies or any policies of similar sort has been enforced by the Trump administration. Basically, showing the rest of the world on how incompetent Donald Trump is while trying to run his government. Now bear in mind, this is the same guy who previously downplayed the seriousness of this virus by comparing it to that of a common flu. Right now, I’m not entirely sure that Trump would ever be re-elected for next term, not if he continues to act like this.
Enough about Trump, because this article is more about the latest policy being enforced by President Joko Widodo to cut the infection chain in Indonesia, called “Large-Scale Social Distancing”. In a nutshell, this thing works like a normal social distancing setting, but in a larger scale. Like all policies before that, it involves employees working from their homes and students studying from their homes. What makes it different is the way other activities being done outside. In a normal setting, restaurants, cafes and other culinary spots are open for dine-in, but with the new policy, they will remain open, but only for takeaways and drive-thru orders, including those made with online platforms. Public transports are limited both on operational times and passenger capacities, reducing it up to 50% to promote physical distancing. Online taxi application platforms temporarily dropped their two-wheeled services for passenger hailing, focusing on food orders and package deliveries. Four-wheeled online taxis are still allowed to pick up passengers, but depending on the total capacity of a car, they can only do up to two passengers on a single trip per car. With private vehicles, it works almost exactly the same way. Motorbikes are not allowed to have a passenger onboard, but cars are still allowed, but with limited passenger count. Hotels and other lodging services are allowed to remain open, mainly for those who came from outside the Jakarta area for self-isolation. Logistics and delivery services are also allowed to operate, especially those with medical supplies, essential things like food, beverage, and groceries, oil and gas, industrial supplies, export and import services and delivery services going in and out. Some offices like those on the extraction business are still open, but with limited employees. Public services like citizenship offices, immigration, or other essential public service platforms are diverted to online applications. Same with policies before, all activities involving large number of crowds is prohibited. In a short explanation, only restaurants, healthcare facilities, and other strategic sectors are allowed to operate under the “Large-Scale Social Distancing” policies.
When we think about the way this policy works, I have to say that it works like a minor lockdown, but with an exception that some businesses still allowed to operate. But with the policy in place, there are some drawbacks as well. One of which (and this is the most noticeable) is the limitation of online taxi services with motorbikes as the main vehicle. Since they are not allowed to pick up a passenger, their focus shift to food orders and delivery services. Consequently, this would reduce their income to as big as 50-60% of their normal income, and to make matters worse, these drivers are literally counting themselves and their lives to day-to-day payrolls as online taxi drivers (which fluctuates every day). This policy would also push some sectors to start working from home, or shut down temporarily, like other sectors aside from those mentioned above, like fashion retails (although you can still buy those online) and tourism sites.
I guess by not putting the country under full lockdown really is the right thing to do, and this policy proved it. By still allowing some economic sectors to operate, the Jokowi administration kept the economy going, although not by much. But there are still some drawbacks, like reduce in income for some informal workforce, places being temporarily closed, and activities involving a large crowd being outlawed. But despite these limitations, it’s still necessary to ensure that this virus is gone for good, and not being a recurring illness every winter and wet season. This piece might be short (in fact, this is the shortest article I’ve ever written so far), but I hope this has done big enough to encourage you all to stay at home, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay positive. We can get through this. All you have to do is stay inside and wash your hands.
