Indonesian Covid-19 task force explains why lockdown not feasible

A motorist passes by a makeshift barricade on March 29, 2020 in Nyamplung village, Gamping district, Yogyakarta. Many regions and residential areas have imposed partial lockdowns and other independent measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. - JP

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/ANN): Imposing a nationwide lockdown to flatten the curve of Covid-19 transmission would do nothing but overwhelm the government, the national Covid-19 rapid response task force has said, as the strict measure would require the government to provide affected residents with basic provisions like food and medicine.

"Imagine if the President had decided to impose a lockdown on the country. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency [BNPB] would have been overwhelmed by now, as this would have meant it had to distribute goods to hundreds of millions of residents nationwide," Covid-19 task force head Doni Monardo, who also heads the BNPB, said on Monday (April 7) during a meeting with the House of Representatives.