“[The provincial administration] set the extension of the second phase of large-scale social restrictions in Banten province to expedite COVID-19 mitigation,” the regulation read, as quoted by kompas.com on Wednesday.

In the decree, Governor Wahidin Halim asked all cities and regencies in Banten to follow the extended PSBB provisions, in addition to continuing public education efforts on a clean and healthy lifestyle.

The extension is the first for Banten, which only started imposing province-wide PSBB on Sept. 21. Previously, the province enacted smaller-scale PSBB in regions with high transmission, namely Greater Tangerang.

It was previously reported that South Tangerang was the only city categorized as a red zone in Banten, after seven other regions were downgraded to orange zones. 

Based on data from the Banten Health Agency, the regencies and cities listed as orange zones are Tangerang regency and Tangerang city, Lebak regency, Serang regency, Pandeglang regency, Serang city and Cilegon city.   

Tangerang regency was the latest region to be downgraded from a red zone this month.  

According to Tangerang COVID-19 task force spokesperson Hendra Tarmizi, the number of positive COVID-19 cases had begun to decrease this month.  

“The number of inpatients treated at hospitals and the death rate have also declined,” Hendra said as quoted by kompas.com on Tuesday.   

Furthermore, according to Hendra, authorities had also stepped up testing, tracing and treatment measures as the majority of COVID-19 cases in Tangerang regency were asymptomatic. 

Asymptomatic patients are quarantined at a hotel with 180 beds. He explained that authorities were working to see Tangerang regency’s status downgraded to yellow by December.    

“However, we must not let our guards down. We must prevent new clusters from emerging,” Hendra said.  

As of Wednesday, Banten has recorded 8,092 COVID-19 infections with 6,431 recoveries and 262 fatalities, according to the provincial health agency’s data. The remaining 1,399 are still being treated in hospitals.

Given that Banten’s COVID-19 cases were mostly contributed by Tangerang regency, Tangerang city and South Tangerang, Governor Wahidin said he would prioritize the three regions known as Greater Tangerang to get the first virus vaccine.

As of Wednesday, Tangerang regency recorded a total 2,589 positive COVID-19 cases, followed by Tangerang city with 2,004 and South Tangerang with 1,531 positive cases, according to data from the Banten administration.

“We need to pay attention to Greater Tangerang because that’s where [COVID-19 cases] mostly come from,” he said Monday as quoted by kompas.com. (mfp)

Editor’s note: This article is part of a public campaign by the COVID-19 task force to raise people’s awareness about the pandemic.

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