In fighting Covid-19, the Indonesian government applied a policy called "large-scale social restrictions". Is this method effective?
Many cities, especially big cities in Indonesia, applied what so called “PSBB” which stands for “pembatasan sosial berskala besar” (English: ‘large-scale social restriction’) to prevent the transmission of Covid-19.
PSBB was applied since early 2020 and ended in a few months. It simply ruled out the mobilization of society. Before PSBB was applied, society could go everywhere and meet people they want. While PSBB, people were ordered to stay at home, work from home, learn from home, and worship at home - everything was from and at home.
However, PSBB is different with lockdown. In PSBB, people were still allowed to travel. But they should bring some documents including Covid-free statement letter issued by community health center or hospital near his/her house as well as travel permit issued by agency or company where he/she works.
Is PSBB Effective?
In some big cities PSBB succeeded in suppressing the increase of Covid-19 transmission. It made PSBB only lasted for some weeks - some areas needed months. Active role of the community became the key to the success of suppressing the transmission of Covid-19. However, when PSBB policy was revoked by the government, the increase occurred again. This forces Indonesian government to think of new ways to suppress the movement of society without hampering the rate of economic turnover.
By July 2020, the number of positive cases of Covid-19 increase day by day. Fortunately, this figure is accompanied by the increase in the number of recovered patients. Hopefully the world can find a solution to this problem soon.
