Indonesia evaluates large-scale social restrictions
Indonesian President Joko Widodo assessed the implementation of the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) policy to curb the spread of the COVID-19 during a meeting held via teleconference on May 12.
Jakarta (VNA) - Indonesian President Jokꦫo Widodo assessedthe implementation of the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) policy to curbthe spread of the COVID-19 during a meeting held via teleconference on May 12.
He noted that the results before and after theimplementation of the PSBB were varied and differed across four provinces and72 districts and cities. Consequently, the number of new cases in regions haddecreased gradually and consistently but not drastically, though there wereareas where the number of cases had declined but had also not been consistentand still volatile. Of the 10 provinces with the most positive cases, onlythree, namely Jakarta, West Java, and West Sumatra, had the PSBB status, whileseven others were still non-PSBB. However, those provinces implemented aphysical distancing policy and strict health protocols in the people's dailylives. Data of the Task Force on COVID-19 prevention showed that Javarecords 70 percent of the positive cases, and 82 percent of mortality. The president urged the force to ensure that the COVID-19pandemic is effectively brought under control in five provinces in Java,especially in the subsequent two weeks. During the meeting, he also sought to ease the PSBB in acareful manner and not hurriedly. Most businesses in Indonesia only have enough cash tocontinue operating until the end of June, said Sutrisno Iwantono, deputychairman of public policy at the Indonesian Employers' Association. Indonesia’s economy expanded only 2.97 percent in the firstquarter, its lowest in almost two decades./.
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Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Photo: Antara) 
