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Children in Central Java Province play on barriers placed as part of movement restrictions amid surging Covid-19 cases in Indonesia. Photo: Reuters

Published: 10:39pm, 19 Jul 2021Updated: 11:42pm, 19 Jul 2021

For the past 11 days, Wisnu Sopian has travelled around the scenic streets of Cipanas, in Indonesia’s West Java province, on his trusted motorcycle. But this is no leisure trip – the 25-year-old university student is delivering food and daily necessities to the houses of self-isolating Covid-19 patients.

Wisnu took the initiative to become an unpaid delivery man in the town after he noticed that his self-isolating friends were struggling to have their needs met due to a number of reasons, whether it was financial hardship or living alone without family or relatives nearby.

“I saw on Twitter that there was some kind of movement elsewhere where citizens help each other. There was no initiative like that in my region, so I thought I had to start it because I think it would take a long time for the local government to step in and help its people,” he told This Week in Asia.

Wisnu Sopian travels around Cipanas every day to make much-needed deliveries to self-isolating Covid-19 patients. Photo: Handout

On July 8, Wisnu posted his phone number on Twitter so patients in Cipanas could text him if they needed staple foods, baby milk formula and diapers, or other daily needs. That afternoon, a text came in from a patient living 33km away from his house, so he used his own money to buy foodstuffs and delivered them in person.

After tweeting that he was accepting public donations to help with the deliveries he makes to three or four people every day, Wisnu collected about 9 million rupiah (US$619), and has spent more than half of that amount already. Distance is no obstacle for him – he has driven close to 40km (25 miles) to make a delivery.

“As long as I still have the support of kind donors, I’m planning to do this until the emergency public activity restrictions are lifted,” Wisnu said.