Singapore/Jakarta | Tens of thousands of new COVID-19 cases each day have forced the Indonesian government to suspend months of careful planning to reopen the economy as it struggles to deal with the crisis at hand.

Across the Indonesian archipelago, many who normally work in the informal economy are once again relying on government handouts to put food on the table as normal life is suspended by the pandemic. The government has extended cash transfers to 10 million families for a further two months, after restrictions were stepped up.