Profitability and asset quality have been adversely affected by the COVID-19-induced economic downturn and probably even economic recession.

Indonesians are optimists and will likely spend more when they emerge out of the crisis, market surveys show. 

Inconsistency has typified the government’s responses to COVID-19, including in its ban on the decades-old mudik tradition.

Age is nothing but a number and people are as old as they feel. Today, The Jakarta Post is celebrating its 37th anniversary, an age that many consider mature. 

The fatwas by the NU and Muhammadiyah, the faces of Indonesian Islam with millions of followers, are crucial to ensure Muslims follow social distancing rules set by the government during the fasting month.

The message from one of the country’s biggest Islamic organizations, Muhammadiyah, that forgoing mudik is part of a “humanitarian jihad” in the “test of faith” that is the pandemic will take some getting used to, and much persuasion.

Jakarta remains the country’s epicenter of the pandemic and addressing the city’s health crisis will significantly help the country win the battle against COVID-19.

The news that the House of Representatives would soon restart deliberations over the omnibus bill was shocking.

The government’s selection of partners to run programs to contain the COVID-19 pandemic deserves extra attention.

In this time of crisis, the government must remember that none of us is more special than the other.

The lack of transparency has compromised the government’s own effort to cope with the pandemic. 

At a time when skills may probably be the last thing on the minds of vulnerable workers as they focus on staples and bare necessities, there needs to be a strong monitoring system for relief efforts.

President Jokowi must have a clear strategy to fight the virus and must get his ministers to work together to implement the agreed-upon strategy — not whatever springs to their mind.  

As all eyes are glued to the emergency ASEAN Summit on Tuesday, collective efforts must be sped up and all underutilized potential mobilized.

This pandemic could write a new chapter in history in which we, together as communities and countries, stand together to become healthier and stronger to overcome the virus.

With the Holy Week, including Good Friday and incoming Easter, celebrated in seclusion, the grandiosity of rituals to remember the divine salvation of humankind this year is sorely missed.  

If the number of cases and deaths continues to climb after the first period of the PSBB, the government and Jakarta should take bolder measures.

Jokowi is now facing the worst health crisis in decades, and we understand that he has to make an extremely difficult choice: saving the people, saving the economy or doing the virtually impossible: saving both. But the President is making a mistake in sidelining scientists.

Taking back power from the local governments but then imposing more stringent restrictions on them is a recipe for a new disaster on top of an existing emergency. It is simply a power grab.

The deeper concern is about managing the health crisis with limited medical facilities and an estimated national average of four doctors per 10,000 people.

The House has been very quiet about how to respond to COVID-19. 

We are truly in a crisis now and, like in most other countries, the Jokowi administration must act decisively while expanding its economic role because right now only the government can save the economy and maintain stability to prevent a total collapse.

With little guidance, people have worked together to organize fundraisers, sought medical supplies and equipment and arranged for the supply of hand washing facilities and disinfectants. 

A civil emergency is far more overreaching than a quarantine or large-scale restriction because of its repercussions on civil liberties.

Local administrations may have chosen to handle the tests with care as field medical workers are not well protected. But with only a few thousands tests, little can be expected from the effort, especially when people have to wait for days for results.

We second the government’s decision, if it comes, to ban the traditional mudik (exodus) this year. But as pleas for physical distancing and avoiding crowds have not been too effective, we urge immediate partial lockdowns or quarantine; either by islands or provinces.  

The point is to accelerate budget disbursement and ensure targeted spending to prioritize health care, the social safety net and incentives for small businesses.

There is no silver bullet in the fight against the pandemic. Countries need to tailor their strategies according to their conditions and available resources. 

But even if productivity is sacrificed as many are not prepared for or perhaps misuse the remote working policy, there are many benefits that can trade off the losses, apart from defeating the coronavirus. 

Reliable data on these groups of people made vulnerable by the health crisis and its economic ramifications will determine the effectiveness of well-targeted social assistance programs.