The decision to implement a new PSBB phase until Jan. 25 was announced on Saturday by Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, who cited the city’s rising number of COVID-19 cases, describing the situation as worrying. He said the restrictions were aimed at preventing hospitals from being overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients and staff from stretching thin.

"Our active cases hit its highest point — 17,383 people [on Thursday]. These active cases are people who tested positive for COVID-19 and have yet to recover; they are undergoing treatment at health facilities or self-isolation,” Anies said in a press statement on Saturday.

He blamed the two consecutive long weekends during the Christmas and New Year holidays — which saw increased mobility among the public — as one of the factors that triggered the spike in infections.

This will be the second time Jakarta is reimposing full PSBB measures, a policy Anies said in September was pivotal in slowing down infections. At the time, his administration decided to pull the “emergency brake” to stop the gradual reopening of several services following a surge in cases caused by the long weekends for Independence Day and Islamic New Year in August. The first time Jakarta imposed full restrictions was from April to early June, about a month after the first COVID-19 cases were detected in the capital in March.

"Past experience showed that stricter restrictions were effective in reducing the number of active cases,” Anies said.

Epidemiologists have persistently warned that any extended holiday may speed the already widely spread infection, driving the demand for hospital beds ever higher.

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