More than 139,000 people in Jakarta have been sanctioned for not wearing masks in public during transitional large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) from June to September, the city administration announced on Friday.

As of Sept. 3, the Jakarta Public Order Agency had recorded 139,201 health protocol violations in the capital and had collected Rp 2.1 billion (US$142,507) in fines.

"We fined 14,291 people [of the 139,201], while the rest did community service as a penalty," Arifin, the agency's head, said on Friday.

He added that Rp 247 million in fines had been collected from business and Rp 764 million had been collected from public venues for violations of protocols during transitional PSBB.

“Some 28 business establishments were closed, 38 establishments were fined and 17 received a warning,” Arifin said as quoted by kompas.com.

Under the transitional policy, which was implemented in early June and has been extended five times, Jakarta is gradually opening workplaces, public spaces, places of worship and other locales in the hope of reviving economic activity.

The policy, however, appears to have backfired as additional COVID-19 clusters have emerged and transmissions have spiked in the capital during the period.

Jakarta, the nation’s hardest-hit region, recorded 1,359 new cases on Thursday, a new daily record and a jump from the 1,053 cases announced the previous day.

As of Friday, Jakarta had recorded a total of 44,280 cases, with 33,260 recoveries and 1,252 fatalities. (dpk)

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