Indonesia's House Speaker Urges Partial Lockdown, Tighter Public Activity Restrictions

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Indonesia's House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani urged the government to immediately reimpose large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in a pandemic high-risk area or "red zone" due to a spike in Covid-19 cases. 

Puan also called for the government to tighten the enforcement of micro-scale public activity restrictions (PPKM) in other areas.

"The government must act immediately to overcome the increasingly worrying spike in the Covid-19 cases. Reimpose PSBB on a limited basis in the red zone areas or tighten PPKM," said Puan in a statement on Monday, June 21.

Also read: Indonesias Daily Covid-19 Cases Approach 10 Thousand 

Citing the Health Quarantine Act, Puan said that the government has the authority to limit social distancing and reimpose lockdowns to overcome the pandemic. She also said that the surge in Covid-19 cases has warned the government to immediately take urgent steps in handling the pandemic.

"Emergency button must be switched on to raise people's awareness about the danger of a spike in Covid-19 cases," said Puan, who is also the daughter of former president Megawati Sukarnoputri.

The ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician added that the government must also ensure close coordination and supervision in handling the Covid-19, especially in the red zone areas.

Also read: 60 Percent of Expectant Mothers in A West Java Womens and Childrens Hospital Contract Covid-19: Senior Minister

"Directives from the central government are urgently needed considering the spread of Covid-19 in various regions," she said.

The National Covid-19 Task Force stated that during the last 24 hours, the new Covid cases reached 13,737, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 1,989,909. 

The number of daily Covid cases on Sunday was the highest since January 30, 2021, which stood at 14,518 cases. The increasing number of Covid cases began after the recent Eid al-Fitr holiday.

(Writer: Ardito Ramadhan | Editor: Krisiandi)

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/06/21/11150821/lonjakan-kasus-covid-19-ketua-dpr-berlakukan-psbb-ketatkan-ppkm-mikro.