More tests and monitoring
Authorities step up virus prevention as travellers return to city
AUTHORITIES are gearing up measures to prevent a surge of Covid-19 confirmed cases amid the return of mudik (exodus) travellers from their hometown following the Aidilfitri holiday.
The government predicted that people would travel back, also known as arus balik (counter-exodus), between today and May 20.
Among the measures prepared by the national Covid-19 task force is to increase random Covid-19 testing on intercity travellers.
The test would be focused on passengers of private vehicles and public transportation passing through toll roads and arterial roads.
The task force will also form a special team in Lampung tasked with checking people entering Java from Sumatra following a rise of confirmed cases in many provinces across Indonesia’s westernmost island.
According to the task force, the number of active cases in Sumatra has risen by 27% so far this month.
On the other hand, Java recorded an 11% drop in active cases during the same period.
Meanwhile, the Covid-19 mortality rate has increased by 17% in Sumatra and dropped by 16% in Java.
“Regional administrations across Sumatra are required to conduct a thorough check on documents carried by travellers during arus balik,” task force spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito said.
In Jakarta, the provincial administration is working with the police and the Indonesian Military (TNI) to anticipate the large volume of travellers during the arus balik to the capital.
Authorities estimate that around 20 million people leave the capital annually during the mudik period, with most of them returning to Jakarta after the holiday.
“We realize that the large movement of people is usually followed by a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases,” Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said on Friday.
He added that authorities would screen private vehicles and public transportation at various entry points to the capital.
The governor has also ordered task forces at the community unit level to monitor the arrival of travellers in their neighbourhood and perform Covid-19 tests.
The community task force will also be responsible for reporting through an online application the health of its residents following the arus balik period.
The National Police will also extend their operation of checking vehicles at toll gates and major roads until May 24.
The operation, dubbed Operation Ketupat, was initially planned to end today. National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas) operation division chief Sr. Comr. Rudy Antariksawan said joint personnel would continue checking vehicles at 381 checkpoints set up across the country.
A joint team of 155,000 personnel from the police, TNI, Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) and the Transportation Ministry have been deployed to the checkpoints.
On the first day of Aidilfitri, officers at the West Cikarang toll gate checkpoint in West Java turned back nearly 900 vehicles attempting to leave the capital.
In total, the joint team turned back around 64,000 vehicles at various checkpoints under the jurisdiction of the Jakarta Police Traffic Corps between May 6 and 13. — The Jakarta Post/ANN