Ivany Atina Arbi, Jakarta – The Health Ministry confirmed 2,719 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, another new one-day high. The new cases bring the official count of cases nationwide to 162,884.
Thursday's death toll of 120 was also the third-highest daily increase recorded since the outbreak began in March.
Jakarta saw the highest number of new cases with 760, followed by East Java with 367 and East Kalimantan with 206.
National COVID-19 Task Force spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito said that three of Jakarta's municipalities in Jakarta remained "red zones" in the past four weeks, and showed no signs of improvement.
"West Jakarta, Central Jakarta and North Jakarta recorded continuously increasing numbers of cases [...] Residents must put more effort into implementing health protocols to contain the disease transmission," Wiku said in a press conference on Thursday afternoon.
But despite the deteriorating situation, the task force has given the green light for city authorities to reopen movie theaters.
"We will prepare the complete regulation soon, which will include every aspect pertaining to health protocol implementation, following the task force's recommendations," Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said on Wednesday.
Wiku said that reopening movie theaters would contribute to public health "because people's immunity can increase if they are happy."