Eased Restrictions Increases Risk of Covid-19 Transmission in Pantura

KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

A boy is allowed through a Covid-19 checkpoint at the entrance to the RW 08 Simaja Selatan community unit on Wednesday (24/6/2020) in Drajat village, Kesambi district, Cirebon, West Java. The checkpoint was set up to encourage local residents to wear masks and to keep track of all visitors to prevent Covid-19 transmission from outside the coastal city of Cirebon.

The increased movement of people from one region to another as social and physical restrictions are eased has contributed to a spike in Covid-19 cases along the Pantura (northern coastal) corridor. Physical restrictions must be reimposed on people’s movement.

SURABAYA, KOMPAS — Physical restrictions on the movement of people and goods using the Pantura (northern coastal) highway, main transportation corridor on Java, must be tightened again. The easing of physical restrictions has increased the volume of traffic on the Pantura highway and caused a spike in Covid-19 cases in the regions it connects.

The monitoring data Kompas gathered up to Wednesday showed a notable lack of discipline and compliance as regards the Covid-19 health protocols in the interconnected Pantura regions of Bekasi-Karawang-Cirebon in West Java, Brebes-Tegal-Batang-Semarang (Central Java), and Lamongan-Gresik-Surabaya-Sidoarjo (East Java). This lax behavior has been occurring since the social and physical restrictions were eased last month.

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From Greater Surabaya to Tuban, for example, restrictions have been lifted on people’s movement along the arterial roads to and from the East Java capital since the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) were eased in mid-June.

KOMPAS/BAHANA PATRIA GUPTA

Women follow the health protocols at a public hand-washing facility on Friday (3/7/2020) at Dalegan White Sand Beach in Gresik regency, East Java. The beach is situated off the northern coastal (Pantura) highway, a major transportation corridor for the movement of people, goods and services across Java that has recently emerged as a hot spot of Covid-19 transmission.

The same thing happened in Cirebon and Indramayu, West Java. The checkpoints to enforce the travel restrictions have been removed from the main roads. The police are now maintaining only a light patrol.

Sutiadji, a resident of Lamongan, said that he was able to drive freely on the city’s main roads without being pulled over in control checks, but he said he was wearing a mask in keeping with the health protocol.

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Meanwhile, Gresik Regent Sambari Halim Radianto said that restrictions and control measures had been lifted from main roads. However, local authorities were still running vehicle checks to ensure that residents were abiding by the health protocol. Physical activities in public places were being closely monitored. People who violated the health protocol were reprimanded.

In Bekasi, the local Covid-19 task force spokesman, Alamsyah, said that enforcement of the physical restrictions on people’s movement and the health protocol were centered at the bus terminal, as the border checkpoints had been dismantled.

KOMPAS/bnpb

Government spokesman for the handling of Covid-19 Achmad Yurianto

The easing of the travel restrictions along the Pantura corridor has also led to a decline in public discipline in adhering to the health protocol among local residents. Many people not wearing masks can be seen on the streets. People are also neglecting the physical distancing rule in public places. Such

scenes were a common sight last weekend in many Pantura regions, including from Cikampek to the border of Subang regency in West Java. In fact, many mask-less traders were seen serving their customers in a number of regions.

Along the Pantura corridor in the regencies of Brebes and Tegal, large gatherings of people could be seen almost everywhere over the past two weeks. Restaurants and hotels have reopened their doors to serve intercity travelers.

Covid-19 Cases

Official data obtained on Wednesday from the East Java Covid-19 Task Force showed that the Covid-19 virus had infected 14,578 people in East Java. The province has recorded 1,112 Covid-19 deaths, or a case-fatality rate (CFR) of 7.6 percent. Meanwhile, 7,883 patients are receiving treatment, 5,316 have recovered and another 267 patients are recovering.

East Java now has the highest tally of confirmed cases in Indonesia. Surabaya is the epicenter of the East Java outbreak, followed by Sidoarjo as a secondary epicenter.

Data from the Sidoarjo Health 0ffice shows a cumulative total of 2,166 confirmed cases as of Wednesday, with 1,055 cases being treated at local hospitals. An additional 64 new cases were recorded on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Tegal regency had 34 confirmed cases as of Tuesday afternoon. Of this figure, four patients are under treatment, four patients have died and 26 patients have recovered. The majority (80 percent) of all confirmed cases in the regency are imported by inbound travelers from cities such as Jakarta, Semarang and Surabaya.

KOMPAS/BAHANA PATRIA GUPTA

People enjoy recreational activities on Friday (3/7/2020) at Dalegan White Sand Beach, which situated off the northern coastal (Pantura) highway in Gresik regency, East Java. The highway, which serves as a major transportation corridor for the movement of people, goods and services across Java, has recently emerged as a hot spot of Covid-19 transmission.

Brebes recorded 42 confirmed cases as of Wednesday afternoon. Of these, 35 patients had recovered and seven patients are receiving treatment. Nearly 50 percent of all Covid-19 cases in the city are inbound travelers.

Even so, Brebes regency secretary Djoko Gunawan said that the administration was no longer actively gathering data on returning residents, as people were self-reporting. Residents who had returned to the regency from other areas were required to self-quarantine if their body temperature exceeded the normal level.

The increased movement of people, prompted by the easing of social and physical restrictions, has also caused an increase in confirmed cases in Indramayu regency. Almost all of the 36 cases are inbound travelers.

"In fact, 11 of them hold Jakarta ID cards. They were visiting their hometowns," said Taufik Hidayat, the acting regent of Indramayu.

KOMPAS/BAHANA PATRIA GUPTA

An informational banner on temporary closure hangs across the entrance to the Lamongan Marine tourist attraction on Friday (3/7/2020) in Paciran district, Lamongan regency, East Java. The tourist spot remains closed due to the spike in Covid-19 cases in regions along the northern coastal (Pantura) highway, a major transportation corridor that facilitates the movement of people, goods and services across Java.

In Jakarta, Covid-19 government spokesperson Achmad Yurianto said that an additional 1,853 confirmed cases were recorded nationwide as of Wednesday afternoon. "East Java reported 366 new cases and 205 recovered cases. Jakarta reported 357 new cases with 147 recovered cases, while Central Java reported 205 new cases with 70 recovered cases," he said.

Lax monitoring

Muhammad Khuzaeni of the Tegal Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) said that the high number of Covid-19 cases in the regency was partly due to relaxed enforcement of the health protocol and physical restrictions. The easing of restrictions in Tegal had led to the increased movement of people.

Semarang resident KH, 34, who has tested positive for Covid-19, had been staying at his brother’s house while visiting Tegal, but had escaped the notice of the local Covid-19 task force. KH is believed to have infected at least six other people.

The Semarang Covid-19 task force had traced at least four people who had been in contact with KH: EP, ST, 57, A, 7, and H, 54. All found have tested positive for Covid-19. EP had gone on to infect two friends, both doctors.

These developments are in line with the report from the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday (1/7), which stated that the risk of Covid-19 transmission increased with the increased movement of people.

Airlangga University epidemiologist Windhu Purnomo said that the increased movement of people from one region to another in the past 10 days had changed the local transmission pattern. Some areas that had been declared “yellow zones” had been upgraded to orange or red zones to indicate the elevated level of risk. The green and yellow zones in the region would not retain their statuses for much longer if the movement of people from outside the area was not restricted.

Some areas in the Pantura area of East Java, such as Tuban, Lamongan, Gresik, Surabaya and Sidoarjo, had been upgraded to red zones – areas with a high risk of infection. "Of the 38 regencies/municipalities in East Java, only five regions are yellow [zones]," Windhu said.

Reimposing the social and physical restrictions was needed because Covid-19 transmission was greatly influenced by people’s movements.

Restrictions on inbound travelers should be reimposed to stop the spread of the disease. The residents of red and orange zones should be allowed to leave their homes only to meet their basic needs. Reimposing the social and physical restrictions was needed because Covid-19 transmission was greatly influenced by people’s movements.

Patrol team

In the city of Semarang, restricting the movement of people at the border was considered no longer effective in preventing the spread of Covid-19. The current prevention efforts focus on active patrols.

A joint team comprising members of the Indonesian Military, the National Police and the Semarang Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) patrols the area every night to check public activities to prevent large crowds from gathering. As part of the social restrictions, a curfew has been imposed on local businesses, including restaurants, which may only operate until 10 p.m. However, a number of traders continued to violate the curfew.

KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

A roadside food stall stands shuttered on Sunday (7/7/2020) along a section of the northern coastal (Pantura) highway in Palimanan, Cirebon regency, West Java. Local businesses have been forced to close down due to a dramatic fall in customers following a spike in Covid-19 transmission in regions along the major transportation corridor.

In order to ensure the effectiveness of the PSBB, which was extended for the fifth time on Monday (6/7, the Semarang municipal administration has changed its strategy on physical restrictions. “The checkpoints were removed from the border and we are instead strengthening patrols. Another 177 villages will be added to the Covid -19 Alert Area,” said Semarang Mayor Hendrar Prihadi.

Epidemiologist Ari Udijono of the University of Diponegoro’s Public Health Department said that a public campaign to address the spread of the coronavirus must be carried out at the RT/RW (neighborhood/community unit) level. Local Covid-19 task forces must be more active and boost public outreach. This way, all segments of the population, including those at the lowest level of society, would become more aware of the need to break the chain of Covid-19 transmission.

According to data posted on the Semarang municipality website, the city had 2,220 cumulative cases as of Wednesday afternoon. Of these, 919 patients were being treated or in isolation, 1,085 patients had recovered, and 216 patients had died of the disease. The city had recorded 238 new cases on Monday (6/7). (BRO/MEL/XTI/SYA/IKI/TAN/NIK/ VAN/DIT)