Indonesia to tighten curbs to prevent holiday spike in cases

JAKARTA • With the threat of a Covid-19 third wave as the year-end festivities approach, Indonesia is gearing up to prevent a holiday-fuelled spike in cases by imposing restrictions nationwide.

Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy has announced plans to apply level 3 restrictions - the second-strictest level of the four-tiered public activity restrictions (PPKM) - in all provinces to better regulate people's movements. The details will be published next week, with the restrictions effective from Dec 24 until Jan 2.

Every region will follow the same national protocols. The government "has come to an agreement that the rules (of PPKM level 3) will be applied in and outside Java and Bali", Mr Muhadjir said in a press release on Wednesday.

Under the planned regulation, activities synonymous with the New Year, such as fireworks, parades and events that would attract large crowds, will be completely prohibited, he said.

Religious events, including Christmas services, according to Mr Muhadjir, would also be under level 3 restrictions, which allow houses of worship to operate at half capacity.

Level 3 restrictions also require malls, hotels, restaurants and supermarkets to open at half capacity, while public parks and facilities, as well as other places that attract large crowds, are instructed to close.

It is unclear whether domestic travel requirements will change.

Currently fully-vaccinated airline passengers to and from Java and Bali are required to present negative antigen test results. This also applies to long-distance travellers who use trains, buses and boats. Air travellers who have only received one dose of a two-shot vaccine need to present negative PCR results of tests taken at least three days before their flights.

Epidemiologist Dicky Budiman from Griffith University said that taking into account data and various indicators of the Covid-19 spread in each region, imposing a uniform level of restrictions across the country might not be an effective way to minimise transmission.

Some regions may need stricter controls than others. "With the current multi-tiered PPKM system in place and increasing vaccination rates, I think we are heading in the right direction. "And now the government can't just arbitrarily decide which levels to be imposed nationwide. They need to consider the (epidemiological) data," Dr Budiman said on Thursday.

The government should focus on increasing PCR testing nationwide and making it more accessible for the public, he said, because without enough coronavirus surveillance, it would be difficult to accurately adapt mitigation measures, making a third wave of infections inevitable. "Whether it's level 3 or 4 (of the PPKM), the essence should be the 3Ts (testing, tracing, treatment) and vaccination. If they decide to go with level 3 but tracing and testing are lagging, it will not work," he said.

Indonesia has seen cases spike after two extended holiday periods.

The first was the 2020 year-end holidays. At the time, the government's strategy relied on public mobility curbs like road closures.

Once vaccines became available early this year, the government relied on inoculations as its main weapon against the pandemic. But the hordes defying the rules to travel during the Hari Raya holiday in mid-May led to the country's second wave of infections. This wave peaked at 56,000 new daily cases and 2,000 daily deaths in July.

With cases again falling in the past week and curbs eased, the government again put vaccination at the forefront of its third wave prevention strategy.

THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK