Indonesia to place Java, Bali under lockdown as COVID-19 cases spike

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced on Thursday that emergency measures will be put into effect in the main island of Java, as well as in the tourist island of Bali, to stem spiking COVID-19 infections in the country.

The lockdown will take effect on 3 July and will last more than two weeks to 20 July.

Further details are expected to be announced later on Thursday.

Indonesia hopes the measures – which include a ban on restaurant dining and closure of non-essential offices – will help reduce the daily increase in COVID-19 cases in the country by half to below 10,000, newswire agency Reuters reported citing a government document.

On 30 June, new confirmed coronavirus cases stood at 21,807, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Indonesia has the highest coronavirus infections in southeast Asia at 2.18m, with deaths at 58,491 as of end-June, the data showed.