An improvement in the COVID-19 situation is reflected in an increase in the number of regions that are at level 2 (of PPKM) during this week's PPKM extension, from the previous 13 regions to 37 regions
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Home Affairs Ministry highlighted that the government had eased the public activity restrictions (PPKM) in several regions in Java and Bali as regulated in the Home Affairs Minister's Instruction (Inmendagri) Number 15 of 2022.

"An improvement in the COVID-19 situation is reflected in an increase in the number of regions that are at level 2 (of PPKM) during this week's PPKM extension, from the previous 13 regions to 37 regions," Director General of Regional Administration Development Safrizal Z. A. noted in his statement here on Tuesday.

Although the restrictions have been eased, the government continues to extend the implementation of PPKM in Java and Bali on March 8-14, 2022, he remarked.

He noted that the increase in the number of regions that implement level 2 PPKM is followed by a decrease in the number of regions that implement level 3 PPKM, from initially 108 regions to 84 regions.

Meanwhile, the number of regions that implement level 4 PPKM remains the same, at seven regions, he noted.

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The pandemic situation in Indonesia is improving with the decreasing trends of national active cases, hospitalization, and fatality, followed by an increase in the recovery rate, he explained.

Despite the declining trend of active cases in the country, the government continues to apply the precautionary principle in observing the dynamics of the developing situation.

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"We should be grateful that after the exponential increase occurred recently due to the outbreak of the Omicron variant, currently, the number of cases is significantly decreasing," he remarked.

The improving situation cannot be separated from the collaboration of all central- and regional-level parties, who continue to work together in dealing with the pandemic.

The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Indonesia in March 2020. According to data from the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, as of March 7, 2022, Indonesia had recorded a total of 5,770,105 COVID-19 cases, 5,171,402 recoveries, and 150,430 deaths.


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Translator: Boyke Ledy, Raka Adji
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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