COVID-19 Active Cases Rate is Still High, Jakarta Extends PSBB Until February 8

Jakarta Government again has extended the Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) period until February 8, 2021. It is regulated in Gubernatorial Decree (Kepgub) No. 51/2021 concerning Extension of Duration and Limitation on Outdoor Activities.

Number of active cases reached 24,224 where it exceeds the highest point of active cases in Jakarta

This decree was taken based on data which compiled by Jakarta Health Agency regarding high rate of COVID-19 active cases in Jakarta in the last two weeks.

There were 17,496 active cases on January 11, 2021, with total 208,583 confirmed cases in Jakarta. While on January 24, it increased by 34 percent into 24,224 active cases and 249,815 confirmed cases.

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"Number of active cases reached 24,224 where it exceeds the highest point of active cases in Jakarta. It reminds us that the pandemic is not over yet," conveyed Widyastuti, Head of Jakarta Health Agency, on Sunday (1/24).

She also explained the availability of isolation beds that only remains 14 percent, where 6,954 of total 8,055 isolation beds have been used as of January 24, 2021. Therefore, Jakarta Government plans to add 1,941 beds. Thus in total, there will be 9,996 beds.

"The same thing happened to our ICU, where ICU capacity has been filled 84 percent. As many as 921 ICU beds are used out of total 1,097 ICU beds. We will increase ICU capacity thus in total it reaches 1,362 ICU beds," she added.

Jakarta Government will continue to increase health facilities and health workers to reduce the mortality rate and increase the recovery rate. As of January 24, 2021, there were 221,567 people recovered with recovery rate 88.7% of total cases and 4,024 people died with mortality rate 1.6%, while Indonesia's death rate reached 2.8%.  

Jakarta Governor, Anies Baswedan encouraged all parties to Protect Jakarta, by mobilizing all resources to reduce COVID-19 spreading rate. One of them is to strengthen Task Force for Handling COVID-19 at the smallest level, namely Rukun Warga (RW). Because it plays an important role, especially in reducing COVID-19 spreading rate at family level, as well as preparing the further steps if someone is exposed to COVID-19.

"We will optimize the existing COVID-19 Task Force, especially at RW level, because they have almost a year of experience. Later, they will also focus on reaching and suppressing the occurrence of COVID-19 spread in family cluster that reaches 566 clusters, followed by office cluster with 312 clusters," he asserted.

He also emphasized the importance of cross-sectoral and integral consolidation with areas around Jakarta to tackle the COVID-19 spread. Moreover, based on data as of January 24, 2021, 24% patients treated in health facilities in Jakarta are residents of Bodetabek and outside of Jabodetabek.

"In Jakarta, there is an atmosphere where residents feel anxious about COVID-19 spread, thus it increases our awareness. We hope this atmosphere will be felt by residents outside of Jakarta, thus the responsibility to tackle and prevent COVID-19 spread can be carried out together," he stated.