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 Coronavirus cases in Indonesia have tripled in the past three weeks,
overwhelming hospitals in the capital Jakarta and other centres on
the heavily populated island of Java.
On Monday, Indonesia recorded 20,694 new infections, bringing the
weekly total to 131,553.
Three sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters
that health minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin had urged tougher social
restrictions but was overruled. He is continuing to push his case,
they said.
One of the sources said government meetings on the issue would take
place this week.
The health minister's position was supported by the tourism minister
Sandiaga Uno, who confirmed to Reuters that a tougher lockdown was
under active consideration.
"I am encouraging a tougher lockdown (but) we would need to provide
the basic necessities for the people," he said.
"If the number of cases is increasing, then we need to adjust very
quickly."
Citing the need to safeguard Southeast Asia's biggest economy,
Indonesia has mostly rejected lockdowns imposed by its neighbours
and similar large developing countries like India.
Instead Jakarta has opted for social restrictions targeting villages
and neighbourhoods deemed "red zones" due to high infections, a
policy known as PPKM Mikro.
Last week, the head of the country's COVID-19 taskforce,
coordinating economy minister Airlangga Hartarto, banned religious
activities at houses of worship, closed schools and bars and
required offices, restaurants, cafes and malls to operate at 25%
capacity in red zones for two weeks.
When Reuters enquired if the health minister wanted greater curbs on
social mobility, a ministry spokesperson replied "in accordance with
the current policy".
A spokesman for President Joko Widodo said: "Until now, we still
have PPKM Mikro, empirically it is still very effective to control
small areas."
INEFFECTIVE
The Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) on Sunday called on the
government to implement large-scale restrictions, especially across
Java, home to more than half of the country's 270 million
population.
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 The IDI said 24 regencies and
cities had reported isolation bed capacity at
90% full, while intensive care units in several
areas were nearing 100% capacity and 30 doctors
had died in June from COVID-19.
"If there is no firm intervention we will be
like India," said Adib Khumaidi, head of the
IDI's mitigation team, noting the surge in
India's cases in April and May and the
"collapse" of its healthcare system.
Public health experts have warned the
government's current policy for social
restrictions can't be fully implemented by
poorly resourced local officials and don't
account for people moving between red zones and
other areas. How villages and
neighbourhoods are designated red zones is opaque and undermined by
low rates of testing and tracing that masks the true extent of
Indonesia's overall infection rate, they said.
One source said that, among several options, presidential advisers
were examining the lockdowns in India, where a fivefold increase in
infections in little over a month was fully reversed in a similar
timeframe.
If guidelines followed by Indian states were adopted in Indonesia,
lockdowns would be introduced in 31 of its 34 provinces where
positivity rates are at 10% or higher.
Adjusting for population size, Indonesia has about 40% of the
intensive care beds in India, according to a study last year by
Princeton University.
On Friday, the health minister announced plans for 7,000 more
hospital beds in Jakarta for COVID-19 patients.
Uno, the tourism minister, said at least 15 hotels close to
hospitals with up to 2,000 beds had been identified as places where
patients with milder symptoms could be treated.
Meanwhile, Indonesia's food and drug agency on Monday approved the
COVID-19 vaccine of China's Sinovac for children aged 12-17.
(Reporting by Tom Allard in Jakarta and Kate Lamb in Sydney;
Additional reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa and Stanley Widianto
in Jakarta; Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Martin Petty)
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