Coronavirus: Indonesia’s Widodo allows travel after Ramadan, raising fears infection will spread

The president has decided not to ban the usual surge in travel towards the end of the Muslim fasting month

Indonesia has reported 196 new cases, its biggest daily increase, as its death toll rose to 181 – the highest in Asia outside China

Reading Time:4 minutes

An Indonesian police officer wearing a coronavirus-themed helmet conducts a hygiene awareness campaign in Mojokerto, East Java on April 3. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:31pm, 3 Apr 2020Updated: 11:15pm, 3 Apr 2020

Indonesia is bracing for millions of people from Jakarta, the epicentre of the country’s coronavirus outbreak, to head for their hometowns across the archipelago after President Joko Widodo said he would not ban this year’s usual surge in travel towards the end of the Muslim fasting month in May.

The scenario would be a repeat of the way mainland Chinese residents left big cities – including Wuhan, where the novel coronavirus was first reported – to return to the provinces and travel overseas ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday in February, fuelling the spread of Covid-19.

For Indonesia, which has a population of 270 million, the migration raises the stakes for a contagion that has seen 1,986 confirmed cases since the country reported its first case on March 2.

Widodo’s decision came as Indonesia reported its biggest daily spike in infections, with 196 new cases. The pandemic has killed 181 people there, surpassing South Korea’s total of 174 to become the highest in Asia after China.

The president has resisted calls from public health experts and provincial leaders to take tougher measures, including a lockdown, to stem the disease’s spread.