Local Lockdown Still Slack in Krukut

KOMPAS/FRANSISKUS WISNU WARDHANA DANY

Government officials persuade residents to take the PCR swab test as part of tracing close contacts of positive cases of Covid-19 at RT 008, 010, 011, and 014 in RW 002, Krukut Village, West Jakarta, Monday (10/1/2022).

Residents and vehicles passed by residential areas in Neighborhood Unit (RT) 008, 010, 011, and 014 of Community Unit (RW) 002 in Krukut subdistrict, Taman Sari, West Jakarta. Nearby Krukut Market still seemed to be bustling with buying and selling activities. Students and their parents, who were either dropping off or picking up their children, gathered on the grounds of SD Negeri Keagungan 1-6 state elementary school.

This was the situation in Krukut subdistrict on the morning of Monday (10/1/2022). As a matter fact, at least four micro-lockdown banners were on display in the area after 36 residents were confirmed to have Covid-19, their tests indicating that they had suspected Omicron infections.

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"[Covid-19] Virus red zone. Strict area control (WPK) has been implemented in RTs 008, 010, 011, and 014 in RW 002, Krukut subdistrict. Except for residents, outsiders are strictly forbidden to enter. Violators will be sanctioned,” read the message on the white banners, printed in red and black text.

The hustle and bustle suddenly disappeared when workers from the local Puskesmas (community health center) and the Indonesian Red Cross, subdistrict and district officers, as well as soldiers and police personnel encircled the area. They disinfected homes, the market and shops, as well as public and social facilities, and asked residents to take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test as part of their contact tracing efforts.

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

-Government officials appealed to residents to take a mass swab test in a village in the Krukut area, Tamansari District, West Jakarta, Monday (1/10/2022).

The residents went inside their homes as if on cue. The traders at the market hastily closed up their stalls before leaving. The densely inhabited settlements with at least 300 residents, crisscrossed by alleys 1 to 2 meters wide, suddenly grew quiet.

However, the PCR testing program for 500 residents in the area nearly failed. Only a handful of residents voluntarily came to be tested at Puskesmas Krukut, the field at SMK Negeri 35 Jakarta vocational school, Krukut Market, and Garuda Field.

"(I) didn't know that anyone had been confirmed with Covid-19. The micro-lockdown was suddenly implemented. I was asked to be tested, [so] I just came," said Endrayanti, 39, a resident.

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The district head, subdistrict head, soldiers, police officers, and RW 002 officials made door-to-door visits to the residents’ homes, persuading them to be tested. All were tested, regardless of opposition or debate.

Bong Tji Moi, 45, a resident, finally agreed to provide a photocopy of his e-ID and promised to be tested after health workers persuaded him to do so for almost 30 minutes. But he must first deliver a package.

"If they had come and told us to, surely the residents here will be willing to come. Now, without providing any information about this, they suddenly came right away,” said Velentino Ali, 60, another resident.

According to Velentino, the residents in the area had learned that confirmed cases of Covid-19 had been found in RW 002 through word of mouth and messaging applications, but not from the RT administration. Not surprisingly, the residents went on with their daily activities as usual as if nothing had happened, and clamped down only when the officers arrived.

Subdistrict supervision non-commissioned officer (Babinsa) First Sgt. Supriyanto admitted that he was having difficulty persuading the residents to be tested, because the residents were worried that they would be isolated in a government facility if their test results were positive.

Lockdown

Lockdown was imposed in RW 002 after a resident tested positive for the virus in early January. Later, the resident’s test result indicated a suspected Omicron infection.

Krukut subdistrict and the West Jakarta Health Office traced that resident’s close contacts starting on Thursday (6/1/2022), when the 14-day local lockdown was also imposed, to be evaluated on a weekly basis. Meanwhile, out of the 36 positive Covid-19 cases, 35 were being treated at the Kemayoran Athletes Village Emergency Hospital in Central Jakarta, while one case was being treated at a local hospital because she was pregnant.

Two of them were now closed during the local lockdown, leaving just one for going to the market and the Puskesmas, but only for local residents.

RW 002 head Hadi Riswanto said the area had three gates that allowed people to enter and exit the area. Two of them were now closed during the local lockdown, leaving just one for going to the market and the Puskesmas, but only for local residents.

"Outsiders are not allowed to enter the red zone. However, the market has not been closed because, it is [for] basic daily needs. There is also no formal instruction [taking place] at the school," he said.

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Officers visited residents' homes to encourage them to take a mass swab test in a village in the Krukut area, Tamansari District, West Jakarta, Monday (1/10/2022)

Krukut subdistrict head Ilham Nurkarim added that residents were screened when passing the RT/RW gate to make sure their PCR test results were negative. Officers had set up a separate joint screening program at the subdistrict’s access point.

Ilham urged residents to coordinate with local schools in Krukut so any students who were subject to the local lockdown did not take part in face-to-face learning for the time being.

The number of Omicron cases has continued to grow at the beginning of this year. However, the spike in caseload was inversely proportional to the declining discipline in complying with the health protocols. Mitigation efforts were still slack at the local level in areas that should be strictly isolated.

(This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo)