Java, Bali Communities Restrictions Extended to December 13

TheIndonesia.id - The Indonesian government decided to extend the community activities restrictions, or PPKM, in Java and Bali for another two weeks, or until December 13, 2021.

The approach is taken after total cases in the regions have been ‘kept at a low level’ during the previous period of PPKM, according to the Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.

“The continuous PPKM in Java and Bali [results in] a stable trend,” said the Minister during an evaluation meeting on Monday, November 29.

The Coordinating Ministry reported that current total confirmed cases have been decreasing significantly, up to 99 percent since the peak in July. However, it’s important to note that on the contrary, active cases have been increasing in the last days.

Meanwhile, Jakarta Provincial Government takes the preventive effort one step further by slashing permitted capacity in tourist destinations from 75 percent to only 25 percent. As stated in the latest Ministry of Home Affairs’ Instruction, the measure is taken to prevent any potential crowds and will also end in December 13.

Commenting on the spread of COVID-19 variant Omicron which has been identified in countries including South Africa, Botswana, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Israel, Australia, and Hong Kong, Pandjaitan said the government has been taking necessary measures to prevent its impact in Indonesia, and will continue to evaluate the policies based on the latest development.

He also highlighted the potentially increasing social mobility as the country is heading towards the year-end holidays. As reported by Google Mobility’s survey for Java and Bali and shopping index, public mobility has been increasing significantly compared to 2020’s Christmas and New Year as well as this year’s Idul Fitri’s periods.

Pandjaitan said the public don’t need to panic, and asked everyone to more rigorously follow the health protocols to prevent sharp case surge in July from happening again.

“Currently, our testing and tracing capacity is far higher than in November last year, and our vaccination rate is already at 60 percent. All we need to do is to be careful and on alert by re-tightening our health protocols’ compliance,” he concluded.