Jakarta Prepares to Step into the ‘New Normal’

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - All eyes are on Indonesia as the heartbeat of the country, Jakarta, gears up to enter a ‘new normal’ despite various public criticisms and reports of the capital city’s plans.

Jakarta Governor, Anies Baswedan, recently announced an extension of the lockdown until the end of June which will see the city gradually reopen for business.

As of 5 June, the country has reported 29,521 COVID-19 total cases including 7,684 confirmed cases in Jakarta.

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Despite nationwide infection rates remaining high and Jakarta as the national epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Jakarta provincial government has allowed 11 business sectors to reopen.

These sectors include Healthcare, Energy, ICT, Finance and Banking, Logistics, Hospitality, Construction, Food & Beverages, and those in the strategic industry and essential businesses.

Jakarta has also decided to allow 19 socio-economic sectors to start operations this month including offices, factories, malls, beaches, and online transportation service providers.

Businesses are required to operate at 50% capacity while enforcing the use of masks and physical distancing measures.

The protocols are in line with those applied by reopened economies in East Asia and Europe, but the risk of incompliance appears greater in Jakarta.

Residents of the capital struggled to abide by physical distancing rules during the third phase of lockdown which coincided with Indonesia’s largest holiday, Eid al-Fitr.