Active Cases Increase, Kalimantan, Sulawesi To NTT Implement Micro-Scale Community Activity Restrictions

COVID-19 Task Force Spokesperson Widu Adisasmito (Photo: BNPB dock)

JAKARTA - In addition to extending the application of restrictions on community activities (PPKM), the government has also expanded the application of this rule.

There are five additional provinces that are now implementing Micro-scale PPKM, namely South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara, and East Nusa Tenggara.

A spokesperson for the Task Force (Task Force) Handling COVID-19, Wiku Adisasmito said the expansion and extension in the five provinces were due to the decreasing availability of beds or bed occupancy rate (BOR) there.

"The expansion and extension of the Micro-scale PPKM is due to the potential for bed occupancy rate (BOR) to exceed 70 percent", Wiku said in a press conference broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat YouTube account, Tuesday, March 23.

In addition, the addition of active cases above the national average is also one of the reasons for the five provinces to finally implement micro-scale PPKM.

Regarding the newly extended and expanded PPKM, there are a number of aspects that have changed and are regulated in the Instruction of the Minister of Home Affairs Number 6 of 2021 concerning Micro-scale PPKM which was issued on 19 March.

The first change, there is the addition of elements of national parameters as criteria for a region to run micro-scale PPKM. "A region running a Micro-scale PPKM, for a province or district/city, is the positivity rate or the number of positive results from the tests carried out with a percentage of above 5 percent", he said.

Second, the opening of a face-to-face teaching and learning activity permit for a tertiary institution or academy on the condition that it is carried out by a pilot institution stipulated by regional regulations. It must implement strict health protocols.

"However, it should be remembered that given this leeway in the education sector, it is necessary to prioritize caution in its implementation in order to gradually open the education sector", said Wiku.

Third, granting operational permits for social and cultural arts activities with the condition that the maximum number of visitors is 25 percent.

With the issuance of this instruction, as many as 15 provinces with five new provinces in Indonesia will participate in implementing Micro-scale PPKM. Especially for new regions, they must have coordinated at the first level, led by the governor together with the Regional Leadership Coordination Forum and related stakeholders.