Rising Community Mobility

KOMPAS/ADITYA DIVERANTA

A number of workers on Jalan Haji Agus Salim, Central Jakarta, left the office during lunch break on Wednesday (22/7/2020). During the Covid-19 Pandemic, some of them were nervous about the emergence of a contagion cluster in the office area.

Although the spread of Covid-19 shows no signs of slowing, people are becoming increasingly mobile again. Shops are reopening their doors to customers and offices are again welcoming their employees.

Unfortunately, this increase in the movement of people, which is usually accompanied by an increase in consumption, is not accompanied by a strict adherence to the health protocols. People who are actually complying with the health protocols and care about halting the spread of Covid-19 spread are left in fear.

It is this fear that grips Prieskha Gerard, 26, whenever she has to use public transportation to get to her office. She now works at the office on alternate weeks, traveling from her house in Bekasi, West Java, to her office in Central Jakarta.

Also read : Preventing New Clusters at Shopping Centers

“Before, my office had a pickup service. It is no longer available these days, as we could not fill the quota. I don’t know what [transportation mode] I will use to get to my office,” Prieskha told Kompas on Saturday (8/8/2020).

Prieskha said that she was worried about using public transportation, as some people seemed to have “forgotten” that we are still in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Their lack of discipline put people who follow the health protocols at risk in public spaces. This is especially so for people like Prieskha, who lives with her parents and younger sister.

Also read : Offices a Source of New Clusters

In early August, Prieskha went to a bakery in Jakarta that provided a washbasin and a physically distanced queue. However, she was boggled by certain aspects. For instance, the counter staffer was not wearing a mask or gloves, even though they also manned the cash register and handled cash. Other customers picked up bread from the display cases with their bare hands and sniffed them before putting them back.

Jakarta resident Vika Anggraeni, 25, said that she was also worried about other things aside from public transportation. She said she also became concerned whenever she shopped at a conventional store or market. Because of this, she now prefers to shop online, especially for daily needs, health goods and items to support her while working from home, such as a table and a chair. She has also purchased her own helmet that she can wear while using a ride-hailing service.

Also read : Workplaces at Risk of Covid-19 Transmission

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.

Close to normal

On watching her neighborhood and the traffic, Vika could see that conditions were slowly returning to normal. However, data from Google’s Covid-19 Community Mobility Reports show that the movement of people still remains below the normal level. Community mobility is measured by percentage of increase or decrease in activities compared to normal times.

The report uses aggregate, anonymized user data of Google products, including Google Maps. The data is used to map people’s movement at particular times divided into six types of movement by location: retail and recreation centers, grocery shops and pharmacies, transportation hubs, offices, residences, and parks.

During the pandemic, community movement in residential areas has increased 25 percent. On the other hand, activities at transportation hubs have plummeted 68 percent.

If regional quarantine goes on for too long, people will feel burned out.

Data from Google’s Community Mobility Reports also shows that the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) reached peak effectiveness in early May, when community movement at retail hubs dropped 53 percent and activities in green spaces dropped 58 percent.

It indicates that the PSBB reached peak effectiveness over the first two months following the announcement of Indonesia’s first Covid-19 case on 2 March 2020. Two months later, community movement increased.

“If regional quarantine goes on for too long, people will feel burned out. As they cannot stay still for too long, regional quarantine can only be effective for at most two months,” said University of Indonesia epidemiological biostatistician Pandu Riono.

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.

Today, despite the continuing increase in confirmed cases, people are also continuing to be increasingly mobile. Community mobility today averages just minus 10 percent compared to minus 36 percent at the peak intensity of the PSBB in May. People tend to be unconcerned and continue to be mobile to fulfill their daily needs.

Community mobility was also high during the Idul Fitri and Idul Adha holidays. This is despite the fact that the daily average of new cases has increased from over 400 cases a day to more than 650 cases a day.

Also read : Time for the “Stay-at-Home Economy”

However, an interesting phenomenon was also observed. As testing increased and the number of confirmed cases peaked, namely 2,657 cases on 9 July, community mobility registered a sudden drop. This indicates that people are fundamentally still aware of Covid-19 transmission.

Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) researcher Bhima Yudhistira Adhinegara said that current conditions pointed to the fragility of people’s false sense of security.

“Without a real sense of security based on Covid-19 control, middle- and upper-class Indonesians who contribute 73 percent to national expenditure will not be confident in spend their money,” he said.