Anies Baswedan's 'Emergency Brake' Policy is Loose, Epidemiologist Says

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - An epidemiologist from the University of Indonesia Tri Yunis Miko Wahyono, argued that Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan's 'emergency brake' policy to suppress the infection of Covid-19 is not optimal because the government continues to allow offices to operate with 25 percent capacity.

"The 'brake' pulled by the government is loose. This brake, I predict, will not have much impact in suppressing the outbreak," said Tri to Tempo on Monday, September 14, 2020.

According to Tri, Anies made the right decision to stop all public activities in the capital. However, the idea was hindered due to the central government's interest in driving the economy.

The central government should understand Jakarta's effort to anticipate the collapse of health facilities and to lower Covid-19 infection rate.

"With the loose 'brake', it is feared that the public will not comply [with the policy]," said Tri, adding that as the emergency brake is taken, the public can be warned of the dangers of the outbreak so that they will comply with the predetermined health protocols.

"If the public remains disobedient, the rising cases will be more unpredictable," Tri said. "I predicted that public compliance with the health protocols has not improved yet because of the loose 'brake'."

Anies Baswedan took the 'emergency brake' policy to return to large-scale social restriction or PSBB for 14 days starting Monday, September 14, 2020, mainly due to the increasing Covid-19 fatality rate and the hospital occupancy rate.

IMAM HAMDI