Safety First, No Mudik: President Jokowi

President Joko Widodo

In a bid to curb COVID-19 transmission, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has urged all Indonesian people to obey the Government’s policy on the ban of mudik, an annual exodus ahead of Eid al-Fitr.

“I understand that we all miss our family at times like these; yet, let us prioritize public safety by avoiding mudik to our hometown. Let us fill Ramadan with efforts to break the chain of virus transmission for the safety of our family, ourselves, and all Indonesian people,” he said, Friday (16/04) in a press statement also aired on the YouTube channel of Cabinet Secretariat.

The Head of State also pointed out that the mudik ban was stipulated following several considerations, including the spike in COVID-19 cases after four long holidays last year.

“First, during Eid al-Fitr holidays last year, there was a 93-percent increase in the number of daily cases and a 66-percent increase in the number of weekly mortality rate,” he said, adding that the long weekend on 20-23 August 2020 caused a 119 percent surge in the number of cases and a 57 percent growth in weekly mortality rate.

According to the President, the holidays in 28 October-1 November 2020 led to an increase of 95 percent in the number of cases and 75 percent in the weekly mortality rate.

“Finally, there was a spike (in COVID-19 cases) after the year-end holidays on 24 December 2020-3 January 2021. The number of daily cases soared by 78 percent and the weekly mortality rate rose by 46 percent,” he said.

Furthermore, the President stated that mudik is also banned because Indonesia must maintain the downward trend of active cases that has occurred since the last two months, adding that the number of cases dropped from 176,672 cases on 5 February to 108,032 cases on 15 April.

“The number of daily cases has relatively decreased. We had 14,000-15,000 cases per day in January 2021, but now it is between 4,000 and 6,000 cases per day,” he said.

The President went on to say that there is an upward trend of recovery rate, adding that on 1 March, there were 1,151,915 recovered patients or 85.88 percent of the total number of cases, and on 15 April, it increased to 1,438,254 recovered patients or 90.5 percent.

The President added that the positive trend of COVID-19 handling must be maintained, including by imposing a government policy on mudik ban.

“Therefore, we must maintain this great momentum. That is why this year the Government bans mudik for state civil apparatus, Indonesian National Defense Forces, Indonesian National Police, state-owned enterprise employees, private employees, and all Indonesian people,” he remarked.

For the record, provisions of the mudik ban are stipulated on Circular of Head of COVID-19 Handling Task Force Number 13 of 2021 on Mudik Ban in Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, which is effective from 6-17 May 2021. Prior to the period, the prevailing regulation on travel is Circular of COVID-19 Task Force Number 12 of 2021. (FID/UN) (DH/EP)