56 Companies in Jakarta Are Temporarily Closed Due to COVID-19

Bundaran Semanggi diambil dari udara (Tim produksi)

JAKARTA - The Jakarta Manpower, Transmigration, and Energy Agency (Disnakertrans) Head, Andri Yansyah, said that 56 companies have been temporarily closed due to COVID-19. The closure of these companies starts since the beginning of the transitional PSBB period on June 5.

"49 companies were closed. Some companies had COVID-19 positive employees. While 7 companies were closed because they didn't follow the COVID-19 health protocol," Andri told reporters, Wednesday, August 12.

Andri didn't want to mention which companies were closed, and the number of employees who tested positive for COVID-19 in the work environment.

The companies that were closed due to the COVID-19 cases, 14 were in South Jakarta, 14 in East Jakarta, 12 in Central Jakarta, 5 in West Jakarta, and 4 in North Jakarta.

Meanwhile, the companies that were closed due to violating the COVID-19 prevention protocol, 4 of them were in South Jakarta, 1 in Central Jakarta, 1 in West Jakarta, and 1 in East Jakarta.

According to him, the closure of these companies is regulated in DKI Governor Regulation Number 51 of 2020. "Companies whose employees are infected by COVID-19 must be closed for 3 days. The office will be sterilized using a liquid disinfectant," said Andri.

Andri said this was different from the closure of a company due to violating the protocols. For example, the company that didn't limit the workspace capacity by 50 percent.

"The companies that didn't follow the health protocol are closed. It's a form of sanction from the local government," he said.

To reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in offices, Andri asked the companies to be open. The offices shouldn't hide the COVID-19 transmission cases in their work environment. This transmission could bring a new COVID-19 cluster in the workplace. 

"We ask for cooperation from the company. Don't cover it up, we won't do anything anyway. Instead, we'll make the company healthy and be able to go back to activities," said Andri.

According to him, if there is one employee who tests positive for COVID-19, there are procedures that the company management must carry out in their office environment. First, positive employees are required to undergo treatment or self-isolation for 14 days.

This case must be reported to the DKI Disnakertrans. After receiving the report, they will do the contact tracing. To find out who interacted with the positive COVID-19 employee.

"People who interact with exposed employees are also subjected to a rapid test. If it is reactive, then a swab test must be done. Now, if they're positive, they also have to do independent isolation or hospitalization," said Andri.