VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The government has decided to extend community activity restrictions Levels 1-3 outside Java-Bali regions from December 7 to December 23, 2021.

"Outside Java-Bali regions, in particular, there will be an extension of community activity restrictions from December 7 to December 23, 2021," Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said at a press conference at the Presidential Office, Jakarta, on Monday.

Level 1 PPKM will be implemented in 129 districts and cities, he informed. This is an increase compared to the previous period, when the restriction level covered 51 districts and cities, he said.

Meanwhile, Level 2 PPKM will be implemented in 193 districts and cities compared to 175 districts and cities earlier, and Level 3 PPKM will be applied in 64 districts and cities compared to 160 earlier.

"And as for Level 4, there's zero districts and cities (applying it)," he reported.

Although the national vaccination rate for the first dose has reached 68.42 percent and the second dose 47.55 percent, there are still some areas outside Java-Bali regions where the vaccination rate is low or less than 50 percent, Hartarto noted.

There are at least nine provinces outside Java-Bali region where the vaccination rate is less than 50 percent, he said. They are West Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, North Maluku, Central Sulawesi, West Papua, Maluku, Southeast Sulawesi, Aceh, and Papua, he added.

Based on the assessment in the last few weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic situation in Indonesia has shown continuous improvement, he said.

The national active cases of COVID-19 on December 5, 2021, reached 7,526 or 0.18 percent, he informed. This figure was below the global average of 7.91 percent, Hartarto said. (Antaranews)