Protecting Employees from Covid-19 Transmission

The emergence of new COVID-19 transmission clusters in offices reflects the weak implementation of health protocols. Business owners should be able to protect workers from the virus.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

A number of office employees on Jalan Sudirman, Jakarta, left the office during lunch break on Tuesday (28/7/2020). Although there are provisions for implementing health protocols with restrictions on the number of employees and setting working hours, Covid-19 transmission still occurs in many office environments.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - The emergence of new COVID-19 cluster in workplaces is a warning that the economic recovery will be long and difficult if the outbreak cannot be controlled. Business owners and office managers are responsible for implementing health protocols and ensuring employee safety.

"Transmission in offices is a warning that COVID-19 is expanding. People are only given optimistic [opinions], so they are less vigilant," said Bhima Yudishtira, a researcher at the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef), in Jakarta on Tuesday (28/7/2020).

According to Bhima, Indonesia will have difficulty achieving an economic recovery if the COVID-19 outbreak cannot be controlled. He said more serious efforts involving all parties, including the business world, would be needed to break the chain of transmission.

Also read : Offices a Source of New Clusters

"Now there is an imbalance. The managerial level down is forced to work in the office, while employers and officials work at home without ensuring the implementation of health protocols for the employees," he said.

Data from the COVID-19 task force issued on July 26 showed that offices had generated new clusters of transmission. Before June 4, only 43 COVID-19 cases had been found in offices in Jakarta. The task force has reported an additional 397 cases in Jakarta offices since then, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in offices in the capital to 440. These cases were mostly found in 68 offices.

On Tuesday (7/28), the number of new cases reached 1,748, making for a total count of 102,051 cases. The death toll increased by 63 to a total of 4,901. Based on hospital data, the number of fatalities related to or of those with symptoms of COVID-19 had reached 18,201 people, rising by 445 people from the previous day’s figure.

Also read: Workplaces at Risk of Covid-19 Transmission

Kompas/AGUS SUSANTO

Residents crossed the Kendal Tunnel, Menteng, Central Jakarta, Tuesday (28/7/2020). Covid-19 transmission is increasingly widespread and new clusters have continued to emerge since the increase in citizen activity. Offices are the biggest source of new clusters besides settlements and markets.

Bhima said the number of COVID-19 cases in offices could be far greater, especially in private offices. "There have been many complaints from workers related to COVID-19 cases in the office, but they were covered up because they were worried it would affect customer confidence," he said.

Business owners and office managers must ensure the safety of employees. "Those who work at home and those who work at the office should be divided. Make sure health protocols are implemented and workers are protected, including by social security," he said.

COVID-19 task force spokesperson Wiku Bakti Bawono Adisasmito said the rapid spread of COVID-19 in offices had become of special concern for the government. "Regional task forces need to enforce rules and oversee activities in offices," he said.

Make sure health protocols are implemented and workers are protected, including by social security.

According to Wiku, people, especially those of the productive age group, should implement health protocols to prevent COVID-19 infection. The highest number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia have been found in the 18 to 59 age group.

Gadjah Mada University epidemiologist Bayu Satria said health protocols could not be enforced without strict sanctions. In Taiwan, for example, when transmission was found, local authorities immediately imposed strict health protocols, such as requiring the use of masks, mandating physical distancing and providing hand washing facilities in offices and public spaces.

In accordance with Jakarta Gubernatorial Regulation No. 41/2020, individuals or business owners who violate health protocols may face a fine between Rp 100,000 and Rp 50 million.

Also read: Time for the “Stay-at-Home Economy”

By the end of June, the Jakarta administration had collected Rp 370.46 million in fines for health protocol violations. Offices, restaurants and services such as workshops and shops are all subject to sanctions.

Kompas/AGUS SUSANTO

Violators of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) affected by the PP police raid recorded his data before serving a sentence sweeping the sidewalks on Jalan Bekasi Barat, around the Locomotive Market, East Jakarta, Monday (22/6/2020). Residents who refuse punishment will be fined Rp. 250,000. Entering the PSBB transition period, there are still many residents who do not wear masks and without keeping a distance in the crowd.

Anticipation

A number of regions anticipated the possible increase of COVID-19 contagion in offices. "The implementation of health protocols in offices should not be ignored," said Yogyakarta regional secretary Kadarmanta Baskara Aji.

Office managers in Yogyakarta must strictly implement health protocols by requiring employees to wear masks, providing hand washing facilities and rearranging office space to ensure physical distancing. In government offices, the Yogyakarta administration replaced the attendance machine with fingerprints registered on a mobile phone application.

Also read : Health and Economy Go Hand in Hand

The Sidoarjo regency government in East Java is updating its information technology-based public services to prevent the emergence of a new transmission cluster in offices.

In a number of regions, new clusters of COVID-19 transmission also appeared in offices. In the city of Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, a new cluster was found at a BTPN Bank branch. As of Monday, the branch remained closed after 15 of its employees had tested positive for COVID-19. The mayor of Balikpapan, Rizal Effendi, said that most of the offices in the city had gradually resumed operations after several weeks of closure.

Most of the new COVID-19 cases in Samarinda since the second week of July were found in the offices of oil and gas companies. The city’s total COVID-19 cases reached 102, 61 of which were found in the offices of oil and gas companies. Nine people civil servants in Batu, East Java have contracted the virus at city hall since June. ( AIK/ TAN/ HRS / NIK/ CIP )