DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has officially announced the re-tightening of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) from 11th to 25th January in light of the explosion of COVID-19 cases in the capital.
The decision to tighten PSBB is contained in Governor Decree No. 19/2021 and Governor Regulation No. 3/2021. This policy follows up on the direction of the Central Government, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto, who is enacting the PSBB across Java and Bali on Wednesday 6th January.
Anies Baswedan said that the decision to tighten the PSBB was motivated by the recent situation of COVID-19 in Jakarta which has caused policymakers to worry.
“Currently, we are at the highest point of active cases so far, which is around 17,383. Active cases are the number of people who are currently positive for COVID-19 and have not yet been declared recovered, whether they are being treated in health facilities or in independent isolation,” he said.
He said that when the PSBB was tightened last September, the provincial government recorded a significant decrease in active cases following the previous increase that derived from the long Islamic New Year holiday in mid-August 2020. After the stricter rules were implemented, the level of active cases decreased rapidly.
“This means that the tightening of social restrictions is really effective in reducing active cases,” he said.
Governor Anies also explained that controlling the pandemic in Jakarta requires cross-sectoral and integrated decisions. Moreover, looking at the data so far, it appears that there is a relationship between positive cases in Jakarta and areas around Jakarta which influence each other.
Test data compiled by laboratories in Jakarta found positive cases not only in residents of DKI Jakarta, but also residents of areas surrounding the capital.
“In December, for example, 63,742 positive cases were found by the lab in Jakarta, 26 percent of whom were Bodetabek (Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi) residents. The same goes for treatment at health facilities in Jakarta. Around 24-27 percent of the patients treated at the Jakarta health facilities are residents outside DKI Jakarta, especially Bodetabek,” he explained.
As a result, he said there was a close relationship between Jakarta and its surrounding areas. Therefore, the provincial government supports the government’s decision to strictly enforce PSBB in Jabodetabek and other areas in Java and Bali.