An anti-coronavirus task force in Indonesia has punished people who wouldn’t wear face masks at a country market by forcing them inside a hearse containing a Covid-19 victim casket, local media reported.
The unusual disciplinary action was taken at the Maron Market in the Probolinggo municipality in Indonesia’s East Java province. Some 50 violators, both shop owners and their clients, took turns spending about three minutes each inside the hearse.
The people had to sit in shame next to a casket and reflect on their actions and how the coronavirus may affect their families. The grim object is used to transport the bodies of people who died from Covid-19, but presumably was empty at the time. The casket was sterilized before the session while the violators were given face masks before entering the vehicle, according to local news website kompas.com.
Ugas Irwanto, the head of the Covid-19 task force, said his officers planned to inspect over 30 markets throughout the municipality over the week, enforcing the social distancing protocols. Law enforcement also have at their disposal other more traditional ways to punish rulebreakers, like temporarily closing their shops, confiscating their IDs or sending them to do communal service.
The municipality had over a million residents in 2010, according to the latest census. The report said as of Sunday there were almost 600 identified Covid-19 cases there, with 27 lives claimed by the disease.
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