Jakarta. The large-scale social restriction in the Indonesian capital has been extended by another four weeks until May 22 to contain the spread of coronavirus, Governor Anies Baswedan announced on Wednesday.

Jakarta has become the epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak in Indonesia, accounting for nearly a half of confirmed cases nationwide, which stood at 7,418 as of Wednesday.

The current restriction expires on Thursday, but the governor deemed that the health crisis is far from over and must be extended. He also vowed to take firmer measures to keep people at home and ban public gatherings.

“The educational and warning stage is over, the next stage will see enforcement in which offenders won’t be reprimanded, but slapped with sanctions,” Anies said in a news conference at City Hall.

Anies said many Jakarta residents have ignored the calls for physical distancing and few of them have full awareness about the purpose of the restrictions.

All non-essential businesses in Jakarta should implement work-from-home policy or suspend operations during the restriction.

“Companies should no longer play the cat-and-mouse game with us. There were cases that our officials visited a company to remind it about the restriction, but once they left the company resumed operations. For the next we will promptly deliver sanctions,” Anies said.

“All of us want this ordeal to pass immediately and it can only be achieved if every one of us is cooperating.”

The city’s Manpower Department has temporarily revoked operation permits of at last 52 companies for violating restrictions and health protocols.

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