Malls must close by 5pm under proposed new revisions to the Micro Enforcement of Restrictions on Public Activities (Micro PPKM) protocol, which may come into effect in the coming days.
National COVID-19 Handling Task Force head Ganip Warsito in a press conference yesterday said that following a high-level government meeting, the Ministry of Home Affairs will soon issue a ministerial decree enforcing some changes in Micro PPKM, including new operational hours for shopping centers.
“Malls would only be allowed to open until 5pm,” Ganip said.
Under current Micro PPKM regulations, malls located in high-risk COVID-19 zones are allowed to open to 25 percent capacity until 8pm.
Other proposed changes include prohibiting restaurants in high-risk zones from providing dine-in service, and only allowing them to serve takeaway and delivery orders until 8pm.
In addition, offices located in high-risk and/or medium-risk zones must allow at least 75 percent of their workers to work from home. Current regulations only require workplaces in high-risk zones to enforce this rule.
“Restricting people’s mobility is one of the keys to control COVID. Because the carriers of this virus are humans,” Ganip said, adding that people will be urged to stay at home unless it is absolutely necessary for them to go outside.
There’s no word yet on whether the proposed revisions would alter the operational capacities of supermarkets, convenience stores, and drug stores, which are allowed to open normally under current Micro PPKM guidelines.
Indonesia is in the midst of a devastating second major wave of the COVID-19 crisis, which officials say was triggered by increased mobility during May’s Eid holiday and the emergence of the more transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus. The country on June 27 recorded an all-time daily infections high of 21,342 cases. As of June 28, Indonesia has recorded 2,135,998 cases, 218,476 of which are active cases.
