Patiently Awaiting Jakarta’s ‘New Normal’

Kompas/AGUS SUSANTO

Violators of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) affected by the PP police raid recorded his data before serving a sentence sweeping the sidewalks on Jalan Bekasi Barat, around the Locomotive Market, East Jakarta, Monday (22/6/2020). Residents who refuse punishment will be fined Rp. 250,000. Entering the PSBB transition period, there are still many residents who do not wear masks and without keeping a distance in the crowd.

Jakarta has decided to extend its large-scale restrictions (PSBB) to ensure the public’s safety from Covid-19 transmission.

The PSBB was extended for another 14 days starting on Friday (07/03/2020), with Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan announcing the decision following a meeting with the Jakarta Covid-19 Task Force.

On the one hand, there is good news from a University of Indonesia (UI) public health study that shows Jakarta has scored well in curbing the spread of Covid-19. Jakarta has scored 71 overall in its management of the Covid-19 outbreak, scoring 75 for epidemiology, 54 for public health, and 83 for health facilities. Its overall score is above the minimum of 70 required to ease social restrictions.

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On the other hand however, its infection rate remains at 1. This means that an infected person can transmit the disease to one other person. In addition, several hospitals in the city have closed temporarily due to transmission among health workers. There is also information on new confirmed cases outside health facilities through self-testing. This came to light when health workers were conducting testing programs in residential areas that were considered to be high-risk areas.

We appreciate Jakarta for its achievement in performing 14,000 tests per 1 million population. The governor emphasized that Jakarta’s testing capacity had exceeded the minimum testing standard of the World Health Organization (WHO) of 1,000 tests per 1 million population. With such an outlook, we believe that the Jakarta administration decided to extend the PSBB as the safest route for managing the Covid-19 outbreak in the city. It would be better for the city administration to maintain the PSBB, rather than entering the new normal phase at risk.

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KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Long lines of KRL commuter train passengers are seen at Bogor Station, Bogor city, West Java, Monday (8/6/2020). A number of workers and economic actors from the Greater Bogor region began to leave for Jakarta because a number of offices and economic activities began to open during the Transitional Large-Scale Social Restriction (PSBB) in Jakarta.

As stated by Roger McNamee, who coined the term "the new normal", it is more important to do business properly than to be trapped by "the tyranny of urgency", he called it. Some people may think that two weeks will go by quickly. But a brief extension could also be good to encourage all parties to work harder and attain a condition that is safe from rapid transmission.

However, effectiveness is needed to ensure that concrete results are realized in a relatively short time. We recall when President Joko Widodo gave East Java a deadline of two weeks to reduce the number of Covid-19 cases in the province. We hope that the Jakarta administration has the capacity to work more effectively in suppressing Covid-19 transmission. We also need to learn from other countries such as Vietnam, South Korea, and Taiwan, which have succeeded in bringing their local outbreaks under control.

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Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said in a recent television interview that three elements played a critical role in the island state’s fight against Covid-19: the health system, governance, and social capacity. Indonesia, especially Jakarta, has continued its efforts to consolidate health infrastructure development, state administration, and increasing the social capital of its citizens.

Therefore, the PSBB extension should not be seen as a setback, but rather as extra time to spur us to achieve a excellence in our fight against Covid-19.