The newest protocol is largely unaligned with experts’ calls, who have previously urged that the government tighten restrictions lest it enables one of the primary aggravating factors contributing to the recent COVID-19 trend.

The two-week-long PPKM extension will mostly affect restaurants and cafes, which will face “slight adjustments” to their operating hours as well as tighter surveillance, the ministry’s release said. With the widespread fanfare brought by the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, public viewing parties will still be allowed, under the condition that all attendees check in with the national health-surveillance application PeduliLindungi. 

“This most-recent PPKM was enforced coinciding with the World Cup. Seeing the massive scale of euphoria, the government has decided to enforce some rules on [public] viewing parties,” said Safrizal, the ministry’s director general of territorial administration development.

In efforts to reduce the spread of the virus, the ministry had also suggested that restaurants and cafes hold their viewing parties in well-ventilated areas with air filters.

While the minor adjustments would tighten public social activities, the extension would grant offices more freedom as the 75-percent maximum-capacity rule was scratched. Starting on Tuesday, businesses across Java and Bali can start fully operating from their offices, though preventative protocols like mask-wearing remain mandatory.

The number of new daily confirmed cases nationwide had gradually risen since the beginning of November, reaching a high of nearly 8,500 cases and 54 deaths as of Nov. 16.

Saturday then saw the nation recording a high of 62,728 active cases, with Jakarta holding the highest number at 22,850 COVID-19 positives. Since at least early October, the Jakarta Health Agency had reported a rise of cases in the city, announcing that it had begun efforts to expand the rate of the capital’s booster vaccinations.

On Friday, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin told state-news agency Antara that the Omicron XBB variant has spread to at least 60 percent of the country’s territory, and looking at the positivity-rate trend, the worst was yet to come.

“The peak will arrive shortly. [...] It is looking like the number of cases will continue to rise until at least the end of the month,” said Budi, adding that Riau Islands’ Batam city has been hit the hardest for its proximity to Singapore.

While the newest COVID-19 subvariant XBB has been marked as highly contagious, experts have previously pinned down lax health protocols and low booster-shot coverage as the primary culprits to the surge. At the risk of paralyzing the country’s health system, the government should be bold in applying a curb higher than the lowest level of PPKM, they said.

“[We are at] around 8,000 cases each day. A few months ago, [it was] around 100 cases per day. How can it be -- that despite the increase, the government is not treating it any differently?” Tjandra Yoga Aditama, a public health expert, told The Jakarta Post last week.

The Home Ministry stated that it was actively urging all state institutions to cooperate in tackling the caseload spike, especially in expanding the national coverage of the booster-vaccination program. As of Tuesday, only around 66 million Indonesians -- or 28.2 percent of the population -- have received the booster jab.

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