Jakarta Extends Partial Lockdown Yet Again to Curb Covid-19 Spread

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has decided to extend the transitional period of the large-scale social distancing or partial lockdown in the capital by two weeks to August 13, as Covid-19 continues to run rampant.

Anies opted for the extension two days after large-scale social distancing was supposed to end. “I decided [to extend large-scale social distancing] after the situation in Jakarta failed to improve after two weeks,” he said of the step, which will come into effect July 31.

“On the contrary, Covid-19 cases have continued to spread in Jakarta.”

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Anies noted that Jakarta’s positivity rate, or proportion between positive Covid-19 cases and the total number of tests, exceeded the standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

“[Jakarta’s] positivity rate is 6.5 percent, higher than the WHO standard of 5 percent. Even then that rate is lower [than the national average] of 13.6 percent,” he added.

“80 percent of PCR tests we carried out were used to find new cases, while the rest are used to test people who previously tested positive for Covid-19. But the purpose is the same, namely to find new cases that could be put in isolation.”

Jakarta’s transition large-scale social distancing was marked by the discovery of Covid-19 clusters, most notably in traditional markets and offices. Authorities in Jakarta has closed 45 traditional markets after 305 vendors were infected with Covid-19.

Also read: Return to Stricter Social Distancing Looms Large in Jakarta as Covid-19 Rages on

The development prompted Anies to deploy over 5,000 civil servants to monitor traditional markets.