The government is set to extend the Enforcement of Restrictions on Public Activities (PPKM) policy, an official said today, as infection rates of COVID-19 in the country’s worst affected regions have not slowed down significantly.
PPKM, which replaced the largely similar Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) policy in parts of Java and Bali, was first imposed on Jan. 11 and is scheduled to go until Jan. 25 before the government tacked on an additional two weeks for its enforcement.
“Latest figures have not shown a significant decrease in positivity rate for COVID-19 in Java and Bali,” Home Affairs Ministry Regional Administration Director General Syafrizal said in a press conference today.
“[PPKM] will be extended for two weeks from Jan. 25, and possibly for two weeks after that, until the numbers show a decreasing trend.”
Under PPKM, affected cities and regencies will be required to limit work from office capacity to 25 percent, resume online learning, and limit capacity at religious facilities to 50 percent during the two weeks. Furthermore, shopping malls will be required to close by 7pm, while restaurants are only allowed to serve dine-in customers at 25 percent capacity.
However, Bali province introduced several modifications to the requirements, such as businesses being required to close at 9pm, and work from office capacity set to 50 percent.
Jakarta, which has the highest provincial caseload in all of Indonesia, falls under the parameters for PPKM enforcement, along with other densely populated cities and regencies with high infection rates in West Java, Central Java, East Java, and Bali.
