Indonesia Will Begin Two-Week Micro-scale Covid-19 Restrictions Tomorrow

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Indonesian government is set to implement a micro-scale of enforcement of public activity restrictions (PPKM) for the next 14 days as the country's Covid-19 caseload continues to climb and people still get sanctioned for violating the health protocols.

“The Instruction of Home Affairs Minister No. 3/2021 has been issued on late Saturday,” the ministry’s official Safrizal said in a televised statement on Sunday, February 7.

The micro-scale PPKM is scheduled to take place from February 9 to February 22 in various sub-districts/villages in regencies/municipalities throughout Java and Bali, which have recorded the highest number of coronavirus cases. The government has decided to implement this policy after the previous restrictions from January 12-February 8 was ineffective. 

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Once the restriction comes into effect, however, the government will be modifying several rules related to room capacity and business operating hours.

All shopping centers or malls are required to close at 21.00 pm. Earlier, under the previous PPKM measures, malls were allowed to operate until 20.00 pm with 50 percent capacity for offices. 

The affected cities and regencies will be required to resume online learning, limit capacity at religious facilities to 50 percent, and limit work from office capacity to 50 percent with the remaining employees working from home.

Construction sites can operate with maximum capacity but strictly follow the health protocols. Restaurants are allowed to serve takeaway and delivery orders until 21.00 pm but must limit dine-in customers to 50 percent capacity.

Also read: 289 Indonesian Doctors Died of Covid-19 as of January 26

“Meanwhile, activities in public or socio-cultural facilities that could potentially attract crowds will be halted,” Safrizal added.

The rules have been changed. The government is now focusing on controlling the infection in the smallest areas, starting from sub-districts to villages, with the following zoning criteria:

• Green Zone when no Covid-19 case is found in the neighborhood.
• Yellow Zone when cases are found in one to five houses.
• Orange Zone when cases are found in six to 10 houses.
• Red Zone when cases are found in more than 10 houses in the last seven days.

The Covid-19 posts will be established in the village, aiming at controlling the Covid-19 infection. The activities will see the implementation of enforcing health protocols and reporting the progress of handling Covid-19.

Micro-scale PPKM may be extended on a biweekly basis pending the central government’s evaluation.

(Writers: Mela Arnani, Rakhmat Nur Hakim, Fitria Chusna Farisa | Editors: Rizal Setyo Nugroho, Rakhmat Nur Hakim, Irfan Maullana)

Sources:
https://www.kompas.com/tren/read/2021/02/08/144500765/aturan-ppkm-mikro-9-februari--wfh-50-persen-restoran-tutup-jam-21.00

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/02/08/14052651/ppkm-skala-mikro-daerah-zona-oranye-dan-merah-wajib-tutup-rumah-ibadah

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/02/07/21394221/mendagri-terbitkan-instruksi-soal-ppkm-mikro-begini-aturannya