You’ve got to hand it to the Indonesians.
Firstly, they got volunteers to dress up as “ghosts” on the streets to deter people from leaving their house. That backfired and people did the opposite instead; they came out of their houses to take a better look at the ghosts, because why not?
And now, another village is trying another trick: one that’s same same but different.
A Village Quarantined Two People in an Abandoned Haunted House After They Did not Self-Isolate
As you probably know by now, the calls to get people to stay home have a unique effect on some people: they’d still head out of their house just for a bowl of Chendol even when they’d be fined.
Like what an auntie has said, “Orkong (fine in Hokkien) then orkong lah!”
And that’s happened in Indonesia as well.
Over in Central Java, many people have returned to their villages and some of them are on the authorities’ watchlist as they might carry the coronavirus.
And these people are told to self-isolate at home for 14 days.
In Sragen Regency, a region in the eastern part of Central Java province in Indonesia which has a population of about 883k people, the head of the region Kusdinar Untung Yuni Sukowati had a suggestion from her residents: if those people who are supposed to be isolated disobey the rules, they should be quarantined in abandoned schools and houses.
And if there’s a need to…to be in a haunted house.
Kusdinar agreed, it turned out that it’s not just a threat.
Two residents who were supposed to self-isolate disobeyed the order, and guess what?
They’re then locked inside an abandoned haunted house.
It’s unknown whether they’ll be in the house longer than expected.
I’ve a feeling that unlike the previous attempt to keep people at home, this might actually work.
Cases in Indonesia
You might remember Indonesia as the country with zero cases, but that was weeks ago.
Just like Singapore, several areas in Indonesia are on “lockdown” as well. In Jakarta, people are advised to stay home and eating in eateries are banned, too. Only people who are on essential services can leave their house to work.
The country now has 6,760 confirmed cases and 590 deaths.
And in case you’re wondering, Singapore currently has 8,014 confirmed cases and 11 deaths.
In the meantime, you can watch more about what’s reported today (20 April 2020) here:
(Check out our YouTube channel for more informative and entertaining videos!)
