What Can be Done?

Kompas/Wawan H Prabowo

Motorcycle taxi drivers still waiting for passengers in front of Ciputat Market, South Tangerang, Banten, Saturday (03/21/2020). Appeals to stay home to prevent Covid-19 transmission do not seem to be fully implemented.

The government continues to call for physical distancing amid the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. However, for people already living in emergency shelters and struggling to live on the streets, adhering to such calls can be difficult.The Dayeuhkolot village hall in Dayeuhkolot district, Bandung regency, West Java, was filled with people fleeing flooding on Tuesday (31/3/2020). As the Citarum River overflowed, 174 locals were forced to leave their homes. This is especially undesirable in a pandemic. At the village hall, the gap between beds is less than one meter. Hoping to protect themselves from the flood, the villagers are exposing themselves to a dangerous disease.

“There has been an instruction to limit interaction, but what can we do? Movement is already limited. If you look at the elderly, they are just miserable,” Dayeuhkolot shelter coordinator Tita, 46, said.