Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – The South Sulawesi administration is soon to impose large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) to contain the rapid spread of the coronavirus in the provincial capital of Makassar, following the Health Ministry's approval of its PSBB proposal on Thursday.
In particular, South Sulawesi plans to lock down the hot zones in Makassar and heighten monitoring to restrict the movement of people in border areas, namely the regencies of Maros, Gowa and Takalar.
The PSBB would be implemented once the administration had confirmed that all residents had sufficient stock of basic goods for the duration of the partial lockdown, particularly those in hot zones, South Sulawesi Governor Nurdin Abdullah said on Thursday.
Essential services such as markets, grocery stores and pharmacies will operate as usual while the PSBB is in place, while offices and schools are to remain closed. People are urged to continue adhering to the stay-at-home and work from home (WFH) policies. However, employees who are still required to go in to the office would still be permitted to do so.
"People can still carry out activities, except those in isolated areas [hot zones], because they are considered to be ODP [people under monitoring]," said Nurdin.
The Makassar administration was now drafting a regulation on the PSBB implementation, he added.
With the green light from the central government Makassar will soon be joining at least 10 other regions that have imposed partial lockdowns under the PSBB to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Indonesia.
The regions include the nation's capital, Jakarta, the epicenter of the Indonesian outbreak, as well as its satellite cities of Bogor, Bekasi, Depok and Tangerang, as well as Pekanbaru in Riau.
On Thursday, the country reported 5,516 confirmed cases and 496 deaths.
Iqbal Suhaeb of the Makassar administration confirmed that the South Sulawesi capital was drafting the PSBB regulation in coordination with the Makassar city council.
"We will disseminate the regulation [to the public] first before [the PSBB] is enforced," said Iqbal, adding that he expected the the regulation to be ready to issue by next week.
The Makassar administration has prepared 35,000 packages of staple goods for distributing to the poor. It has also readied 35,000 masks for people who needed them, as the PSBB requires all residents to wear masks when they venture outdoors.
The administration also plans to build public kitchens in quarantined areas so that food is readily available.
Makassar had set aside some Rp 300 billion (US$19.1 million) for its COVID-19 response, Iqbal said.
South Sulawesi is one of the "red zones" of the Indonesian outbreak, recording 271 confirmed cases and 23 deaths by Thursday afternoon.
Meanwhile, its neighboring provinces of West Sulawesi and South Sulawesi had respectively recorded seven and 26 confirmed cases. (vny)