JAKARTA – Indonesia in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus, has curbed public transport ahead of the annual exodus to home villages at the end of Ramadan’s Muslim fasting month, the government said on Sunday.

Around 75 million Indonesians flow home from major cities in late May to Ramadan in late May this year, but health experts have warned against an increase in cases after a slow government response spread.

Public buses, trains, airplanes and ships will be allowed to fill only half the passenger seats under a new regulation, in which the limit of occupancy on a private car is only half that of a seat, whereas a motorcycle can only be occupied by one person. is.

“The essence of this new regulation is to complete public transport controls,” Transport Ministry spokeswoman Adita Irawati said in a statement released on the Cabinet Secretariat website.

The capital Jakarta is the epicenter of the outbreak in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, with the highest number of infections and deaths among 3,842 cases and 327 national deaths.

President Joko Widodo Ramadan visit home has been criticized for rejecting calls for a similar ban, as well as a strict lockdown imposed by neighbors.

Widodo has instead sought to persuade people to live by expanding welfare programs. They have opted for broader social sanctions in some areas, leading local authorities to decide to close schools and offices and ban mass gatherings.

Sunday’s directive limits public transport vehicles to half-capacity, shorter operating hours, and sets guidelines for motorcycle taxis in areas largely covered by social restrictions in Indonesia.

The ministry also ordered public transport operators to check the temperature of passengers, while bus terminals, train stations, airports and ports should provide soap and hand sanitizers and standby medical staff.

Jakarta and surrounding cities in Southeast Asia’s largest country, such as Bogor, Depok and Bekasi, are largely under sanctions, known by their Indonesian acronym PSBB.