Indonesia Orders Firms to Stagger Duty Hours as Malls Reopen
Indonesia Tells Firms in Jakarta to Implement New Working Hours
(Bloomberg) --
Authorities in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta ordered companies to implement new working hours to prevent overcrowding on public transportation during peak hours as shopping malls reopened after more than two months.
Employees at government ministries, state firms and private companies will start work either between 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m., or between 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. from Monday, according to a circular by the nation’s Covid-19 task force. They will finish work about eight hours later.
“Our assessment shows that more than 75% of the commuter rail passengers are workers and nearly 45% of them leave for work at the same time, at between 5:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.,” task force spokesman Achmad Yurianto said in a televised briefing on Sunday. “It will be difficult to maintain physical distancing because transportation modes are already at their highest capacity.”
The staggered working hours are aimed at preventing a second wave of infections as the country begins easing movement restrictions. Shopping malls and wet markets in Jakarta were allowed to reopen from Monday at 50% capacity limit with movie theaters, gyms and exhibition centers still remaining shuttered. The capital previously lifted curbs on offices, restaurants, retail stores and places of worship citing a decline in infection rate.
Read: Indonesia Eyes Growth Rebound With Exit From Virus Lockdowns
Indonesia reported 1,017 new coronavirus cases on Monday, bringing the total cases to 39,294, the second-highest in Southeast Asia. Jakarta has the largest number of people infected. As many as 2,198 people have succumbed to the disease across the country since the government reported the first cases in early March.
“We expect to see a balance between public transportation capacity and number of passengers and to ensure the implementation of physical distancing measures,” Yurianto said. Despite the new working hours, companies should still ask their employees to work from home if they have pre-existing medical issues, he added.
Schools in 85 cities and regencies labeled as green zones because of their low infection rate will be allowed to reopen schools in phases starting from the middle of next month, Minister for Education and Cultural Affairs Nadiem Makarim said. While schools in 429 cities may not start classroom teaching until the outbreak is contained, they may hold virtual classes, he said at a briefing.
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