PPKM Restriction Extended After Jokowi Claims 'Situation Improved'

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Monday said the level 4 public activity restriction (PPKM Level 4) enacted from July 26 to August 2 has helped improve the Covid-19 situation on a national scale. He claims the daily cases, active cases, recovery rate, and hospital bed occupancy had improved. 

Despite suggesting the Covid-19 surge prior to the restriction is slowly being overcome, the President announced that the government will continue the PPKM Level 4 in certain Indonesian regions lasting until August 9. 

“Despite the improvements, the Covid-19 cases have developed dynamically and are fluctuating. Once again, we must stay alert and take control of the situation,” Jokowi said in the video uploaded by the Presidential Secretariat on August 2.

The restriction’s coordinator Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan explained that many regions have been ranked at level 4 due to the deaths caused by the virus, not because of the growing number of active cases. 

“There are areas that need special attention due to the high number of confirmed cases, positivity rate, and the deaths such as Bali, Malang, dan Solo,” Pandjaitan said. 

He said the government will intervene with better steps to reduce the Covid-19 deaths and push to provide centralized isolation wards from the village level up to provincial level. 

Read: Jokowi Extends COVID-19 Restrictions 'PPKM Level 4' Until August 9

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