The doctor saidto us stay home and be safe
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(Jakarta) Indonesia’s government is failing to provide transparency and access to information to battle the COVID-19 outbreak, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities have been charging people under abusive criminal defamation laws for their online comments about the coronavirus and the government’s response.
Indonesian officials admit that government reporting on the virus outbreak has been inadequate. Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman said on April 5, 2020 that the Health Ministry’s statistics did not match the figures that provincial administrations were reporting, and that the ministry’s data was limited, making his office “unable to provide the complete data.” Governor Anies Baswedan of Jakarta, whose city and suburbs account for half of all infections, expressed concern that the number of infections and deaths has been significantly underreported due to the low rates of testing.
“The Indonesian government needs to ramp up testing to know the true extent of the coronavirus outbreak in the country,” said Andreas Harsono, senior Indonesia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should also uphold the right to information and provide accurate statistics to the public.”
The number of people who have contracted COVID-19 in Indonesia is unclear. On April 7, the Health Ministry announced there were 2,491 positive cases with 209 deaths and that 13,186 people had been tested since December 30, including the crews of the cruise ships World Dream and Diamond Princess. However, as of April 6, Jakarta’s Department of Parks and Cemeteries recorded that 639 people had been buried with COVID-19 protocols, suggesting that many more people suspected of having COVID-19 died without being tested.
Senior officials initially downplayed the virus. In February, Health Minister Terawan Putranto rejected Harvard University’s calculation that questioned his claim that there were no COVID-19 cases in Indonesia. Putranto reiterated the importance of “praying” to prevent the virus.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo announced the first two positive cases, in Depok, near Jakarta, on March 2. This was more than a month after China had imposed a lockdown in Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province on January 23.
Testing remains very limited, with fewer than 20 sites to process tests for the entire country of 274 million people. Most tests were initially only possible in laboratories on Java Island, Indonesia’s most densely populated island, with 6 provinces. In April, 12 new testing machines arrived for 12 more provinces, out of the total of 34.
Indonesia also faces a persistent shortage of personal protective equipment and medical masks, prompting many medical workers to use raincoats. The Indonesian Medical Association stated that at least 31 medical workers, including 20 doctors and 4 nurses, had died so far due to COVID-19. Indonesia’s general hospitals are also underequipped, with only 661 intensive care units, and only half of them with ventilators.
On March 15, President Jokowi ordered people to, “Stay home, work from home, pray from home,” but he has not imposed tighter national restrictions on movement. On April 7, the local Jakarta government announced it will impose a two-week large-scale restriction in Jakarta as of April 10, that includes closing schools and workplaces and limits on religious events and cultural activities.