Indonesian villagers catch coronavirus after opening casket and bathing dead Covid-19 patient

That’s just one of the incidents highlighting the uphill struggle for Indonesia as its infection rate continues to soar

Doctors use #Whatever Indonesia hashtag as relaxed travel measures bring crowds to airport, while experts fear spike in cases after Eid

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Indonesian police and government officers question motorists at a police checkpoint on the outskirts of Jakarta. Photo: AP

Published: 9:30pm, 18 May 2020Updated: 8:31am, 20 May 2020

Fifteen villagers in East Java, Indonesia, were infected with the coronavirus on Sunday after opening the casket of a Covid-19 patient to perform a traditional bathing ritual on the corpse; in Jakarta, crowds jammed the Soekarno-Hatta airport after the government allowed the limited resumption of flights; in West Java, a Covid-19 patient refused hospital treatment, becoming enraged and hugging his neighbours in an attempt to infect them.

Instances such as these highlight the uphill struggle facing Indonesia, a country of 270 million people spread across more than 17,000 islands, as it tries to flatten its Covid-19 curve.

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Even as the country’s death toll continues to soar, on Monday reaching 18,010 infections and 1,191 deaths, reports are increasingly emerging of people ignoring their government’s restrictions and guidance on social distancing measures.

While the country has avoided a complete lockdown – rejected by Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo due to the impact it would have on jobs and businesses – it has implemented large-scale social restrictions, which have required businesses either to close or implement work-from-home policies (though companies in “essential” sectors – which covers finance, fuel, food, medicine, retail, water, communications and logistics – are exempt).

Healthcare workers take a coronavirus swab sample from a vendor at a traditional market in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia. Photo: Reuters

These restrictions have been in place since last month, but experts say a mass exodus of residents from Jakarta that took place before the government banned travel in April has undermined the effort and left the country struggling to contain the virus.

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