Page 63 - AEI Insights Vol. 7 2021

Jingyi et al, 2021

Large-scale Social Restriction; (3) regulation of migrant workers more rigorously ; (4) Stronger
social security net for families with low incomes ; and (5) a feedback hotline about pandemic
management by the government. The WHO has put pressure on Jakarta due to its low testing
rates compared to other countries worldwide.

With the increased numbers of casualties and deaths, local leaders began to reimpose
lockdowns, particularly in Jakarta. The "New Normal" policy of President Jokowi states that
touristic destinations are witnessed by thousands of local visitors, with social and religious
activities unchecked. The country seems to abandon flattening its curve in favour of economic
reopening. Still, official governments and international sources have confirmed that the
economy continues to contract, irrespective of whether it is. In addition to strengthening the
social safety nets, the government launched some incentive packages to support low-income
families, micro-enterprises, and state-owned businesses.
The Philippines recorded the highest number of cases in ASEAN by the end of September
2020. Most restrictions were lifted on 1 June 2020, after 76 days, causing a massive rise of
COVID-19 cases. Threatening the public health system, the economic situation of the country
continues to worsen. While social mobility constraints and testing have steadily increased
across the country, the government is still controlling the virus. The Philippines government
has announced a social protection programme for low-income families and health workers,
similar to other ASEAN countries. Approximately 3.4 million micro-businesses benefited from
a Wage Subsidy Package. President Duterte also adopted a pandemic relief measure of $3.4
billion to expand healthcare and support to small businesses on 11 September 2020. However,
the country continues to be hit by protests against the lack of food and job loss.

The battle against COVID-19 was relatively well-conducted in Thailand with fast lockdown,
effective test & tracking and with the already strong health systems. However, Thailand
reported a new case on 3 September 2020, after over 100 days without local transmission.
Prime Minister Prayuth declared the first state of emergency on 26 March2020 until the end of
August, although lockout action was relaxed on 29 June2020 for most businesses. Thailand is
also expected to be hit hardest economically because of its intense dependence on tourism and
exports sector. Thailand declared in September 2020 that it will spend up to 1 billion to help
its agricultural sector and build rural employment. The government also announced plans for a
new $ 58 billion stimulus package in funding for workers, infrastructure and job investments,
soft loans to SMEs and the Stabilization Fund for Corporate Bond Bonds.
Vietnam was initially able to successfully control the pandemic, despite scarce resources and
a busy frontier with China. The first local quarantine orders in Vietnam were declared on 15
February 2020 while the national lockdown commenced on 1st April 2020. On 25 April 2020,
the government issued guidelines authorising localities to remove COVID-19 restrictions when
the virus had been contained. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc declared in March 2020 that
he would provide the government with a fiscal stimulus package of $1.16 billion. The package
included tax breaks, deferred tax payments and government infrastructure investment.
Furthermore on 24 March 2020 Vietnam also halted stopped rice export to ensure national food
safety. Though Vietnam was hit by a second wave spread from Danang City, the COVID-19
was under control at the beginning of September.

63