Clinging to Hope amid the Severity of COVID-19

It is not that we are ungrateful, but this PPKM period sometimes causes pain. It is said the community is calm. How can we be calm? We have no income at all.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Food vendors wearing masks and face shields push carts after finishing selling in the Pademangan area, North Jakarta, on Thursday (14/1/2021).

Bete, 42, a resident of Pademangan, North Jakarta, has been forced to stop selling his wares since the beach tourism center next to his neighborhood was closed again at the end of June as the COVID-19 caseload was back on the rise.

The family was practically cut off from its livelihood when the government implemented emergency public activity restrictions (PPKM Darurat).