February 16

The Indonesian government has allowed vaccinated children aged six to 12 to enter all shopping centers and recreational places in the region of capital Jakarta starting from Tuesday.

However, the children are required to show proofs that they have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, and they must be accompanied by parents.

With COVID-19 restrictions still in place in Jakarta, malls, playgrounds for kids and recreational areas are now allowed to operate at 50 percent capacity to try to keep the economy moving amid the current surge in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant of the virus.

With a four-tier COVID-19 restriction policy in place in the Southeast Asian country, the government is currently imposing the level-3 curbs in Greater Jakarta.

The peak of the third wave of COVID-19 is starting to pass in Jakarta, with the numbers of daily cases, active cases and hospitalizations beginning to fall, according to Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.

"If (a person) has been vaccinated twice, has been given a booster, has no comorbidities, just go out for a walk. There's nothing to worry about too much," the minister told an online media briefing on Monday, calling on the public to continue implementing health protocols.

To date, the country has recorded over 4.9 million COVID-19 cases with more than 145,000 deaths.

On Monday, Indonesia's Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said that the number of hospitalized patients in the current wave was 30 to 40 percent of the second wave which hit the country in July and August last year. More than half of those hospitalized were also either asymptomatic or had mild symptoms.

The minister also said deaths from COVID-19 have decreased in the country.

Like many other countries in Asia, Indonesia is accelerating its vaccinations for the public. In the country, more than 188 million people have received their first dose, and over 136 million have taken their second dose.

Indonesia started mass COVID-19 vaccinations in January last year after the authorities approved the emergency use of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine.

Aiming to fully vaccinate 208.2 million people in the country, the government has so far administered over 332 million doses, including the third booster jabs.

xinhua