Minister Issues Instruction to Enforce Public Activity Restrictions at Villages/Sub-districts

In a bid to follow-up on President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s instruction to enforce public activity restrictions (PPKM) and establishment of COVID-19 handling post at the lowest administration level, Ministry of Home Affairs issued Ministerial Instruction Number 3 of 2021 on the Enforcement of PPKM at Micro Level and Establishment of COVID-19 Handling Post at Villages and Sub-district to Curb the Spread of COVID-19.

On that regard, Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian ordered all governors, regents, and mayors in Java and Bali Islands to enforce PPKM to the community’s micro administration levels, namely neighboring units, in their respective regions from 9 to 22 February 2021.

Regions that must enforce PPKM are that of higher mortality rate than national mortality rate, lower recovery rate than national’s, higher active rate than national’s, and that exceeded bed occupancy rate at Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and isolation ward of 70 percent.

The regions are, among other, Bogor Regency, Bekasi Regency, Cimahi City, Bogor City, Depok City, Bekasi City, Bandung Raya Region, Tangerang Regency, Tangerang City, South Tanggerang City, Semarang Raya, Banyumas Raya, Surakarta City, Yogyakarta City, Bantul Regency, Gunung Kidul Regency, Sleman Regency, Kulon Progo Regency, Surabaya Raya, Madiun Raya, Malang Raya, Badung Regency, Gianyar Regency, Klungkung Regency, Tabanan Regency, Denpasar City, and its surrounding areas.

Tito added that the governors may add regions in the implementation of PPKM based on condition of each region and the implementation took into account zonation system.

For green zone where has been no case of COVID-19 in the neighboring units, those with suspected COVID-19 will be tested and they will be monitored regularly.

“For yellow zone where there are 1-5 houses in the neighboring units with COVID-19 confirmed cases within the last seven days, we will find the suspected and trace their close contacts. Those with confirmed COVID-19 and their close contacts must undergo self-isolation with strict monitoring,” Tito said.

Meanwhile, measures taken to orange zone where there are 6-10 houses in the neighboring units with COVID-19 confirmed cases within the last seven days are; find and trace the suspected COVID-19 cases and their close contact, impose self-isolation to those with confirmed COVID-19 and their close contacts, and close houses of worship, playground, and public places besides essential sector.

As for red zone where there are more than 10 houses in the neighboring units with COVID-19 confirmed cases within the last seven days, the PPKM will be enforced at the neighboring units, including find and trace the suspected COVID-19 cases and their close contact, impose self-isolation and centralized isolation with strict monitoring, close houses of worship, playground, and public places besides essential sector, prohibit crowd of more than three people, limit those entering and leaving the neighboring units from 8 p.m. onwards, suspend social activities that may cause crowds.

The implementation of PPKM will involve various elements with the establishment of posts at sub-districts, and villages for monitoring, coordination, and evaluation function.

The posts will serve as places to prevent and handle the spread of COVID-19, disseminate information to the people, and support the implementation of COVID-19 mitigation at villages and sub-districts. In the implementation, the posts will coordinate with COVID-19 National Working Committee at district, sub-district, municipalities, and provinces level, as well as with the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI) and Indonesian National Police (Polri). Any update will be informed to the National Working Committee, Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Home Affairs.

Budget needed for the implementation will be sourced from village budgets (APBDes) for posts in villages and from regencies/municipalities budget for posts in sub-districts.

Posts at villages will be led by villages’ heads while posts at sub-districts will be led by sub-districts heads. Both posts will be supported by public protection unit (Satlinmas), TNI’s village supervisory non-commissioned officers (Babinsa), community police officer (Babinkamtibmas), and prominent figures.

The PPKM comprises of regulation of 50 percent Work from Home (WFH) and 50 percent Work from Office with stricter health protocols and regulation of online learning/learning from home.

Essential sectors may open under certain condition namely limited operational hours, capacity, and must follow to stricter health protocols. Meanwhile, restaurants may open with 50 percent seat capacity, and mall may open until 9 p.m.

On the other hand, construction works can fully operate by adhering to strict health protocols. Houses of worship may open with 50 percent capacity, while public facilities and social activities that may cause a crowd is prohibited.

Tito also called on regional governments at provinces, regencies/municipalities, villages, and sub-districts to further enforce discipline in following the health protocols, to strengthen tracking system, tracing management, and treatment including improve capacity of healthcare units (beds, ICU, isolation ward), and to enhance interregional coordination. (FID/UN) (RAS/LW)