TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Monday evening announced that the public activity restrictions (PPKM) across the Greater Jakarta area, consisting of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi, would be reduced from Level 4 to Level 3. This new policy will be effective from August 24-30.

“The Greater Jakarta agglomeration area, Bandung Raya, Surabaya Raya, and other cities are under Level 3 (PPKM) starting August 24,” said the President on the Presidential Secretariat Youtube video today.

Previously, Communications and Informatics Ministry Johnny G. Plate said the decision on the COVID-19 curbs was already taken in a limited evaluation meeting of PPKM this afternoon. The meeting, he implied, saw several improvements in COVID-19 mitigation efforts across a number of regions.

However, the minister did not reveal whether the less restrictive rule would also be implemented in regions outside of Greater Jakarta, or even outside the Java Island.

President Jokowi’s PPKM Level 3 announcement is consistent with a previous statement by Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, who said the government would continue implementing the PPKM amidst the pandemic, with the severity of the restrictions varying from one area to another.

He once mentioned in a press conference on August 16 that PPKM Level 1 or Level 2 is a restriction that is near to normality.

Read: Daily COVID-19 Cases Drop Below 10,000 Ahead of PPKM Announcement

DEWI NURITA