Emergency PPKM Lacks 'Lockdown' Aspect, Says Epidemiologist

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - An epidemiologist with the Griffith University, Dicky Budiman, responded to the emergency PPKM (public activity restriction) the Indonesian government introduced to battle the surge of Covid-19 cases. 

He said the policy fails to adopt the crux of a lockdown as Budiman argued that a complete restriction against public activities will bring down the exponential rise of coronavirus cases. 

“There is no lockdown in this emergency PPKM. [Rules that force people to stay home] are nonexistent. There is no stopping public mobility and interaction,” said Dicky on July 1. 

The epidemiologist believes that the government did not put enough attention towards concocting a strategy to help reduce the pressure currently felt across many healthcare facilities due to the surge in patients. He said that a stricter policy which mimics a lockdown could be beneficial in stopping the virus from making a broader transmission, and eventually reduce the number of deaths.

Budiman said he highly understands if the Indonesian government thinks the emergency PPKM is the only viable option right now. However, he argued that it should not last for three consecutive weeks and rather suggests a one week PPKM followed by a stricter lockdown-like policy. 

“I think it shouldn’t be too long, we’ll see in a week. Once again, this situation is already critical. We should not observe it for too long,” he said. 

Read: Indonesian Terms of Covid-19 Restrictions: the Difference of PPKM and Lockdown

EGI ADYATAMA