We see the number of passengers is quite few. Each bus is carrying just five or six passengers due to the physical distancing measures. This indicates that a majority of Jakarta residents are preferring to stay at homeJakarta (ANTARA) - Jakarta Metropolitan Police Chief Inspector General Nana Sujana said he found inter-province bus passengers observing physical distancing in a disciplined manner during a visit to the East Jakarta bus terminal on Saturday.
Sujana said passengers were keeping seats beside them empty as part of physical distancing measures implemented under large-scale social restrictions imposed in Jakarta to curb COVID-19 transmission.
During his visit, the police chief also offered face masks to several passengers aboard a bus headed to cities in Java Island.
People showed greater self-discipline on Saturday, evident by passengers wearing face masks and maintaining physical distance inside buses, Sujana noted,
"We see the number of passengers is quite few. Each bus is carrying just five or six passengers due to the physical distancing measures. This indicates that a majority of Jakarta residents are preferring to stay at home," he said.
Sujana said he expects public self-discipline would improve further and help stem the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Jakarta.
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan officially imposed large-scale social restrictions and distancing measures in the capital city on Friday. The restrictions will remain in place for 14 days, during which, poor and vulnerable families in Jakarta will receive aid.
Saleh Partaonan Daulay, a member of Commission IX of the House of Representatives (DPR), which is overseeing health and workforce issues, praised the central government for allowing the Jakarta provincial administration to enforce the policy.
The restrictions are expected to accelerate the nation's efforts to curb the spread of the deadly virus. To make sure this status gets enforced effectively, all necessary measures must be prepared well, he said.
The coronavirus disease initially struck the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019. Since then, it has spread to almost all countries across the globe, including Indonesia, prompting the World Health Organization to declare it a global pandemic.
Jakarta itself is the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in Indonesia.
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Translator: Andi F, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Gusti Nur Cahya Aryani
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