🇮🇩 Jakarta locks down, lagi

Hello friends!

I’m stressing out for Jakarta. While we’re seeing the pandemic recede in most of the region (we’ll get to you though, Philippines!), Indonesia is surging. 

Every Friday I do a more in-depth look at what’s happening in Indonesia’s COVID-19 response, the economy and politics for Coconuts’ Indonesia Intelligencer so come join us there too if you also feel a bit sick when you see the Antara snaps of the gravediggers. 

This one is free to read for everybody — please share!

Thanks,Erin Cook

My biggest pre-pandemic regret is not getting good photos, especially at Car Free Day in Jakarta

Jakarta is back under lockdown. Governor Anies Baswedan announced Thursday the Large Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) would come back into effect in the capital from today lasting at least two weeks. He has previously said it was a possibility as Jakarta’s case numbers continue to trend upwards. Even City Hall itself is not immune.

Yesterday, the Health Ministry announced 1,380 new cases in the previous 24 hours in Jakarta marking a new record on the eve of the lockdown. Still, public health experts doubt the second round will do much. With a string of businesses still operational — although at around half of capacity — epidemiologists wonder what’s the point since most transmissions are currently from workplaces. 

Jakarta is, of course, not just Jakarta proper. The population surges and wanes each day by the millions as residents from Bogor, Tangerang, Depok and Bekasi commute into the city for work and then make the long slog home. The virus, obviously, doesn’t end at the city limits and each of the satellite cities is dealing with their own outbreaks of various intensities. While none of them is beholden to Jakarta’s protocol, it’s clear something needs to be done. An announcement is expected either today or the coming days as city leaders consult with relevant agencies.

Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised by a similarly intense policy rolled out across Greater Jakarta (Jabodetabek, FYI!). I’ve been frightened by this quote from Bekasi Deputy Mayor Tri Adhianto last week: "We only have 180 [hospital] beds left, but we've prepared 55 additional beds in the Chandrabaga Stadium. If we continue to see 40 new cases a day, in the next week we'll have 280 more patients, our hospitals could only accommodate 180."

East Java capital Surabaya has dropped largely out of the headlines after becoming one of the country’s largest hot spots. A horrifying report last month spoke with gravediggers who said they’d buried 1,500 bodies since the outbreak began. “When will this end? We are tired, we are depressed,” gravedigger Munaji said. Still, not everyone is getting the message. Local authorities are raging at young Surabayans who have baulked at the warnings and continue hanging out (more accurately, nongkrong — another important term!) and sharing the virus amongst themselves before taking it home.

Back west, South Sumatra is seeing surges in the number of ‘red zone’ areas. South Sumatra scrapes in at number 10 in the country’s worst-affected areas but is in the top five for mortality with 5.95 percent of known cases dying of the virus.

Now, Bali is quickly emerging as the latest trouble zone with a 100 percent increase in cases last week from the week before. Deputy Governor Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati points to transmissions at traditional ceremonies and young people flocking to recently reopened attractions, contracting COVID and then passing it on to others in their community. 

The central government has been fending off criticism that it’s prioritised the economy over the health of hundreds of millions of citizens. It didn’t help itself when an economic recovery team was named while the bodies of healthcare workers were (and are) still piling up and communities begged for more assistance. There is an air of ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t,’ but that exists everywhere. Indonesia is certainly not alone in weighing up the economic and health crises. Still, this isn’t about everyone, it’s about Indonesia. 

The stock market tumbled Thursday by a near-record 5 percent, triggering a brief halt, off the back of the Jakarta announcement. Bloomberg reports a further 2.8 percent slide in the first 20 minutes of trading Friday morning is ominous. We’ve got a double spectre here of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis for Indonesia, and then the ‘where goes Indonesia so goes the region’ cliche. 

Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto says full economic recovery will be two to three years away, although I think that’s optimistic for any economy at this stage. Before all this, we spent last year talking about failures to reform structural issues, inability to foster the manufacturing sector President Jokowi is desperate for and the pushing of monetary policy to its brink as Bank Indonesia struggled to respond to the emerging market crisis beginning to afflict Indonesia (and Thailand!) in a big way. And now on top of that, here’s the pandemic. 

The combination of an uneasy political/social situation and the losses of so many jobs and income is really stressing me out. I don’t know where it goes from here because we’ve never been here before. Maybe I need to stay off WhatsApp for a while. 

• As Bali attempts to forge a new era, we need to stop spinning fables about it and listen to Balinese (Travelfish)

• Coronavirus exposes hidden struggles of poor Indonesian-Chinese families (SCMP)