TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Jakarta Covid-19 mitigation task force confirmed that this week's Covid-19 positivity rate in the city reached 10 percent, up from the previous 9.6 percent.

“The positivity rate in Jakarta for the past week is 10 percent,” said the Jakarta Health Agency’s head of disease prevention and control, Dwi Oktavia, on Monday, August 24.

On Monday, August 17, Governor Anies Baswedan stated that the 10 percent positivity rate was a signal of danger, while the safe rate as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) is below five percent.

A number of parties have urged the city administration to take strategic steps in curbing the spread of Covid-19.

The Jakarta Legislative Council (DPRD Jakarta) member from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), Gilbert Simanjuntak, said that it would be effective should Jakarta enforce the initial large-scale social restriction or PSBB again and limit the people’s movement by instructing the stay-at-home order. However, the regional budget was not sufficient to do so.

The chairman of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) faction at the Jakarta DPRD, Ahmad Idris, also highlighted Anies Baswedan’s emergency brake policy. He argued that the transitional PSBB currently implemented was not effective in stopping the pandemic.

Read: Anies Baswedan Asks Other Regions to Ramp Up COVID-19 Testing Capacity

AHMAD FAIZ IBNU SANI