Indonesia’s Minister for Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform says a lack of awareness in implementing health protocols has led to high COVID-19 transmission among the country’s Public Servants.
Tjahjo Kumolo (pictured) said the Government had warned its workers to implement health protocols through a circular in May, “however, supervision of the implementation is still lacking so far”.
“Many Civil Servants are still seen without masks, gathering without social distancing while working in offices,” Mr Tjahjo said.
“Many offices have yet to adjust air circulation in their buildings,” he said.
Mr Tjahjo called for stricter supervision and discipline in implementing health protocols.
“Offices should instruct their employees to work from home if any of the workers were found to have contracted COVID-19,” he said.
The national COVID-19 task force recently revealed that office buildings had emerged as the new clusters of Coronavirus transmission in the country, particularly inside those that lacked ventilation or room for social distancing.
In Jakarta alone, 68 distinct office clusters had been found, which included buildings belonging to public institutions, Ministries and State-owned enterprises among other places.
Infection clusters among employees have also emerged in other regions, such as in Government offices in East Kalimantan and media companies in Surabaya, East Java.
Mr Tjahjo repeated the Government’s advice for employees to work safely in offices throughout the pandemic, including the avoidance of meetings, refraining from providing snacks or beverages during any meetings that are held and limiting these meetings to 30-minutes duration at maximum.
Jakarta, 1 August 2020
