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uthorities in Greater Surabaya and Bali have increased measures to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.

Some 171 people had to spend the night at police stations after they were apprehended for violating a curfew during the implementation of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in Greater Surabaya, East Java, over the weekend.

In an operation carried out from Saturday evening to dawn on Sunday, security personnel raided cafes and coffee stalls in several places in Surabaya and arrested 85 people found breaking the curfew.

Greater Surabaya, which comprises Surabaya city and its satellite regencies Sidoarjo and Gresik, imposed PSBB measures on April 28, with local authorities also setting curfews to restrict public activities from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the three areas.

“We detained them for 24 hours and we took their blood samples for COVID-19 rapid testing. Those whose rapid tests come back reactive will be quarantined for 14 days,” Surabaya Police chief Sr. Comr. Sandi Nugroho told reporters on Sunday.

He said police had also recorded the identities of the violators in anticipation of any of them breaking the rules again during the PSBB period. If caught, the authorities will charge reoffenders under Article 216 of the Criminal Code, Article 93 of the Health Quarantine Law and the Surabaya mayoral decree on the PSBB, which could result in one year of imprisonment.

East Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Luki Hermawan said a joint force of police, military and Public Order Agency personnel conducted similar raids in Sidoarjo and Gresik and arrested another 89 people.

He said security personnel would conduct patrols in the three regions on a daily basis until the end of the PSBB period.

Luki said security personnel at dozens of checkpoints had so far issued formal warnings to 5,496 individuals who broke the PSBB rules in Surabaya, Gresik and Sidoarjo, such as failing to wear a face mask or violating the limitations on vehicle passengers.

East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa also called on the public to obey the PSBB regulations, saying Surabaya had been severely hit by the virus with the number of confirmed cases continuing to increase.

“Surabaya has twice the number of confirmed cases of Bandung [in West Java]. This is a concerning situation,” she said.

Surabaya had recorded 554 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 71 fatalities as of Sunday, while Sidoarjo had recorded 113 cases with 13 fatalities and Gresik 32 cases with five fatalities.

The number of confirmed cases in Surabaya accounted for half of East Java’s tally of 1,117 confirmed cases, and for almost two-thirds of the province's 111 fatalities, the highest number of cases in the country after the capital city Jakarta.

Meanwhile, the Bali administration has decided to expand the area of lockdown from one of three hamlets in Abuan village, Bangli regency, to the entire village. The decision was made after rapid tests indicated it was probable that hundreds of its residents were infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. All residents are required to stay at home and will be provided meals three times a day.

The decision to isolate the entire village – home to 2,640 residents – was made on Friday after the authorities put one of the village’s hamlets, Serokadan, on lockdown on Thursday.

Earlier, the administration had found that eight of the village’s residents had contracted the virus through local transmission after reportedly coming into contact with a migrant worker who had just returned from abroad.

The Bali provincial COVID-19 task force took 1,200 blood samples from residents of the hamlet on Thursday, with more than 400 found to be reactive after rapid testing. The team also took swab samples of 126 people, with all results coming back negative on Friday.

“Sanglah Hospital Laboratory has taken swab samples from 126 residents whose rapid tests show they were reactive to the PCR [polymerase chain reaction] test. We already got the test results and all came back negative,” said the task force’s executive chairman, Dewa Made Indra.

The swab tests are being conducted in several phases due to the limited testing capacity of the laboratory. “On Friday morning, we took another 183 swab samples for the PCR test. We are conducting the test in phases,” Dewa Made Indra said.

On Friday, rapid tests were conducted on an additional 669 residents, with only four people showing reactive results.

As of Monday, Bali had recorded 262 confirmed cases with four fatalities. Eight cases were foreigners.