TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Vice Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), Erwin Aksa, says that Jakarta must impose a lockdown or a fully large-scale social restriction (PSBB) as the Covid-19 infection rate in the capital is still high.

“Jakarta has to conduct 40,000 Covid-19 tests daily. Therefore, I think Jakarta must implement a lockdown,” Erwin said in a virtual discussion Saturday, September 12.

He viewed that Indonesia can yet to open economic or social activities quickly without controlling the infection rate unless it can be reduced.

According to Erwin, the Covid-19 test capacity in Indonesia is not yet enough, and even lower than in other countries.

At present, with its 260 million population, Indonesia is only able to test 35,000 people. Meanwhile, New York City is able to test 65,000 people out of 19 million population daily.

In addition, Indonesia is lacking in the dissemination and education about Covid-19 to the people, making them being unaware and ignorant toward health measures. Besides, Erwin went on, there is no contact tracing from the central and regional governments, while it is highly important.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan previously announced that the city administration will re-implement full-scale social restriction (PSBB), starting on September 14. The decision was made due to the high infection rate and the limited capacity in hospitals.

Read: Govt Advised to Implement Lockdown to Suppress COVID-19 Transmission

Muhammad Hendartyo