As of Feb. 12, Indonesia is one of the few Southeast Asian countries that has yet to announced any confirmed cases of the 2019 novel coronavirus (Covid-19).

No confirmed cases in Indonesia

This is despite Indonesia being the largest country in the region, with 264 million people and over two million tourists from China.

The World Health Organisation (WHO)’s representative to Indonesia, Navaratnasamy Paranietharan, had expressed concern that the country had not reported any confirmed cases.

However, he also said that Indonesian authorities had assured WHO their lab testing kits have been working well.

Navaratnasamy said via Reuters:

“Indonesia has taken concrete measures and the World Health Organization is quite confident that Indonesia is ready to be able to respond to this situation.”

Indonesia had also repatriated over 200 of its citizens from Wuhan and other cities in China.

The Indonesians were sprayed with disinfectant upon their arrival in the country and had been declared healthy, according to The Jakarta Post.

Masks still being sold at high prices

Although Indonesia has yet to confirm any cases of Covid-19, people are still rushing to buy N95 masks.

This is despite the Jakarta Health Agency advising residents to wear regular masks instead of the N95 masks for daily use.

According to The Straits Times, the citizens' panic buying had driven prices up to 1.5 million rupiah (about S$150) for a box containing 20 N95 3M masks at Pramuka Market, Jakarta's largest marketplace for the sale of medical-related equipment.

In early January, each box were only sold at around Rp 200,000 (S$20), reported Jakarta Post.

Online marketplaces are also selling the masks for as high as Rp 2 million (about S$202) per box.

According to data from state-owned diversified miner PT Aneka Tambang, gold was sold for Rp 772,000 (S$78) per gram.

This means that a box of N95 masks currently costs more than a gram of gold in the country.

Indonesian authorities urged to take action

Head of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI), Tulus Abadi, has urged the Indonesian National Police and Business Competition Supervisory Board (KPPU) to investigate if mask distributors are intentionally holding back their supplies of masks to create the price surge.

One seller at Pramuka Market was only allowed to take between five and 10 cartons of masks from her suppliers, according to ST.

Previously, she could take up to 50 cartons.

YLKI has also criticised the government for not doing anything about the situation.

Chairman of YLKI, Sudaryatmo, said that the government should set a price ceiling of 30 per cent above the usual price.

He added that those who set the price higher than the percentage should be sanctioned.

Image from Getty Images.