Many offices have kept information private, thereby slowing down the tracking. This leads to widespread transmission, including to other regions by travelers from Jakarta.
By
DEONISIA ARLINTA/AHMAD ARIF
·4 minutes read
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Offices have become the main source of Covid-19 transmission in Jakarta, with the most cases even being found in the Health Ministry. However, many offices have kept information private, thereby slowing down the tracking. This leads to widespread transmission, including to other regions by travelers from Jakarta.
Data on the Covid-19 cases in Jakarta, which is accessed at corona.jakarta.go.id, shows the high number of cases of transmission in government and private offices. In the government, the Covid-19 clusters are found at the ministry to subdistrict levels.
"Usually, at the beginning, the offices close themselves off. Like in the ministries, we learn about them from reports at the laboratory that entered the health office, then we conduct the tracing," said Suharti, Jakarta Deputy Governor for Population and Residence Control, in a discussion held by Laporcovid19.org, in Jakarta, Thursday (17/9/2020).
The Covid-19 clusters were found in 27 ministry offices, with the most at the Health Ministry and 42 offices of national agencies or institutions. The Covid-19 cluster was also found in 30 offices of state-owned and regional administration-owned enterprises, as well as in almost all offices of the Jakarta City Government.
At the ministry level, the most Covid-19 cases were found at the Health Ministry with 139 positive people, and at the Health Ministry’s Research and Development Agency with 49 cases. Up to 90 cases were found at the Office of the Transportation Ministry, 42 cased at the Finance Ministry, and 35 cases at the Law and Human Rights Ministry.
Health Ministry secretary-general Oscar Primadi said the high number of cases at the ministry\'s offices was due to the massive tracking. He insisted that health protocols had been strictly enforced. Every day, disinfection is carried out in all office spaces. The number of staff entering the offices is limited to 25 percent of the total capacity.
In institutions, 73 cases were found at the office of the East Jakarta Financial and Development Supervisory Agency, 42 cases at the office of the Corruption Eradication Commission, 35 cases at the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency, and 30 cases at the General Election Commission.
Meanwhile in private offices, Covid-19 transmission clusters can be found in banks and mass media offices. Outside the offices, Covid-19 clusters are found in traditional markets and dormitories.
According to Suharti, the results of the office cluster tracking were coordinated with other regional health offices because a part of the employees live outside Jakarta.
The spokesperson for the Covid-19 Mitigation Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito, admitted that office clusters are increasing. Even, five regional heads and public officials died due to Covid-19.
Employee safety
Many employees in Jakarta have complained about the reluctance of the offices to be open regarding the Covid-19 cases. According to Irma Hidayana, a public health researcher from Laporcovid19.org, many private employees and others from government agencies have reported abuses during the implementation of the large-scale social restrictions.
Yesterday, there was a report from an employee at the branch office of a bank in West Jakarta. According to the employee, his office asked employees to work without reducing the number of the staffs, even though there was a colleague who was positive for Covid-19.
The reluctance to be open about information in offices by not reporting the cases of transmission, said Irma, has endangered employees and their families. This also makes it difficult to break the chain of transmission.
According to Eva Sri Diana, a pulmonary specialist in Jakarta, office clusters are suspected of triggering family clusters. At least 70 percent of Covid-19 cases she handles are aged 25-40 years and work in offices. A part of the patients are asymptomatic.
The cases should be reported immediately so that they can be isolated,
An Indonesian epidemiologist at Griffith University, Dicky Budiman, said that the spread of transmission in offices which triggers family clusters was caused by delays in the case finding. "It could be due to reluctance to be open on information. The cases should be reported immediately so that they can be isolated," he said.
The Health Ministry\'s Data Information Center said that there were 1,081 clusters of transmission in Indonesia, with many of the latest cases from offices and travelers. The epicenter of the spread from Jakarta dominates the cluster transmission.
The Covid-19 Mitigation Task Force reported, yesterday, the Covid-19 cases increased by 3,635 people, bringing a total to 232,628 cases of Covid-19. Of that total, 166,686 patients recovered and 9,222 patients died.