The One Where Everything Goes Up
More infections, more restrictions, more vaccinations, more parking fees
Indeed, this has been a week in which pretty much everything (except stocks and cryptocurrency) is going up and that’s not always good. Especially so when the biggest increases include infection numbers, Covid deaths, hospital bed occupancy rates, and parking fees. As if you need more reasons to stay home, right? At least the rise in parking fees isn’t effective immediately. Yes, yes, it’s the least of our worries. Let’s get on with it, shall we?
To the Moon
We have managed to flatten the curve… along the “Y” axis. In the past one week, we have broken the record for the number of daily confirmed cases five times on June 21 (14,536), June 23 (15,308), June 24 (20,574), June 26 (21,095) and June 27 (21,342). Active cases went from 142,719 to 207,685 in the last seven days.
Despite calls for a lockdown, the government decided to “thicken” the current PPKM (Enforcement of Public Activity Restriction) Mikro policy between June 22 and July 5.
What changes is that red zones must close houses of worship, parks, recreational facilities and schools while shopping malls and restos must close by 8pm with 25% capacity. Offices not in the essential sector must have 75% of their workforce work from home.
The government also refused to go back to PSBB (Large-Scale Social Restriction) policy as imposed in the early days of the pandemic, which allows for tighter travel restrictions.
Jokowi insisted that PPKM mikro is the most suitable policy at this time, putting into consideration our current “economic, social and political situation.”
Epidemiologists, of course, disagreed saying that the previous PPKM mikro has failed to do anything and there is no reason to believe that a “thickened” PPKM mikro would be more effective. Economists also said the cost of locking down the country is far cheaper than the price of a prolonged and worsening pandemic.
Meanwhile, our healthcare system is struggling to cope with the rising cases with hospitals and isolation facilities running out of beds and spaces to treat and isolate Covid-19 patients. The newly opened Covid-19 cemetery in Rorotan, Jakarta is also quickly running out of space with gravediggers working round up to 16 hours a day because of the influx of Covid-related deaths.
Aggressive Vaccination
The only good thing which came out of this new wave of Covid-19 cases is that the government has finally relaxed some of the bureaucracy surrounding our vaccination drive. This week, the government decreed that Health Ministry-operated vaccination centres and facilities are open to all Indonesians regardless of where they live and where their KTP (ID card) was issued.
Provincial, district, or city operated centers and facilities such as Puskesmas however still require people to prove that they are local residents via KTP or residential letters.
The government has also boosted its vaccination drive. For the first time ever on Saturday, more than 1 million people were inoculated. The Health Ministry sent out a press release early on Sunday announcing 1.3 million vaccinations given on Saturday as a result of a nationwide drive with the military’s cooperation. While the official numbers on Sunday’s daily update gave the total at 1.1 million vaccinations, we’re willing to give the benefit of the doubt due to the timing overlap of the daily reports.
And there seems to be more good news. On Sunday, a letter purported to be from the BPOM (Food and Drug Agency) circulated online. The supposed letter said that the BPOM has authorized the administration of Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccine for 12-17 year olds as test subjects have shown no fever or other issues during the testing period. However, the BPOM and other officials have not confirmed if the letter was real.
More Reasons to Stay Home
Jakarta plans to increase its hourly parking fees. Depending on the location and whether it’s a public or private/commercial property, the range will be quite wide. For cars it will be between Rp5k-60k per hour while for motorbikes Rp2k-18k per hour.
The city government argued that the plan will compel more people to take public transport. But we are in a pandemic right now and public transportation is slashing its capacity and it’s not safe to bike to work because the government recently announced plans to dismantle the city’s segregated bike lanes. Walking? Have you seen the state of our barely existent sidewalks?
Besides, who’s to say that the parking fee hike will mean better public transport facilities?
Quick Reads
Four Years Jail Time for Hardline Cleric
Rizieq Shihab has been sentenced to four years in prison for deliberately making a factually incorrect statement which led to a public disorder. While patients are entitled to confidentiality, his choice in announcing a lie about his health condition made him criminally liable. Last month he was sentenced to eight months prison time for violating the health protocols in holding his daughter’s wedding last year.
No flights from Indonesia are allowed to land in Hong Kong from 25 June until further notice after the number of passengers from Indonesia who tested positive upon arrival in the country went over the threshold. The ban was initially applied only to Garuda Indonesia but was eventually expanded to all flights.
Kominfo Considering to Ban Online Games
The Regent of Mukomuko, Bengkulu, made a request to ban mobile games, such as Mobile Legends, PUBG, Free Fire, and any other game accessible via mobile phones or any other device, from being available in his regency to stop kids being addicted to them. If the Ministry approves the request, which is supported by the Child Protection Commission, it can only apply the ban nationally, not regionally, never mind that the country has several esports teams playing those games professionally in international leagues.
Jokowi Anointed King of Lip Service
The Student Executive Body of the University of Indonesia released a poster of the President anointing him as the King of Lip Service accusing him of not only failing to make good on his promises regarding public protests, the KPK, UU ITE, and the Omnibus Law, but actually reversing the course on all of them and becoming a repressive president.