COVID-19 Cases Continue To Soar, Members Of Parliament Ask Non-essential Companies To Implement WFH

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JAKARTA - Member of House of Representatives (DPR) Commission IX Elva Hartati urged non-essential companies to immediately implement a work from home (WFH) system because positive cases of COVID-19 are increasing.

Elva Hartati said as of Sunday, January 30, 2022, active cases of COVID-19 reached 61.718 after there were 9.163 additional cases.

She asked that the increase in cases should be of concern to all circles, including the business world.

"President Joko Widodo has made it very clear that for workers who can implement 'WFH' to implement it immediately, considering that positive cases of COVID-19 are increasing with the continued increase in local transmission of the Omicron variant," she said, quoted by Antara, Monday, January 31.

Elva conveyed that the government's policy was clear that only essential sectors could still operate normally with strict health protocols.

"Commission IX supports all safety net programs to be ready to be implemented to help affected communities," she said.

She said Commission IX of the DPR held a working meeting with Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin and the COVID-19 Task Force two weeks ago to mitigate the third wave of COVID-19.

Commission IX of the DPR proposed that the government use the bed occupancy rate (BOR) data or bed occupancy rate for COVID-19 patients in hospitals or ICUs as a benchmark in deciding the implementation of Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM).

"We are still confident that only controlling the pandemic from a health perspective can promote maximum economic recovery," she said.

According to Elva, the government has prepared various mitigation measures to control the pandemic in the health sector, which also considers the sustainability of the business world.

The operation of 11 essential business sectors is one of the solution steps so that the entire pulse of the economy continues while ensuring that the pandemic is under control.

"We ask the business world to be a little patient while fully supporting the efforts of the government and parliament to control the pandemic so that the economy can recover," she said.

Meanwhile, Member of the House of Representatives Commission IX, Saniatul Lativa, reminded that the increase in COVID-19 cases is now more than local transmission.

"If the company continues to employ its employees, it must be ensured that its employees are safe from Omicron and safe from local transmission of Omicron transmission," added Saniatul.

However, she said that while the addition of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia was the most under control compared to five other countries in Asia, India, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. Based on data from ourwordindata.org, new confirmed COVID-19 cases per 1 million population, the graph of the addition of cases in Indonesia is predominantly sloping.

She continued that as of January 26, 2022, the positive confirmation rate in Indonesia was 13.27 per 1 million population. According to him, this is much lower than Singapore with a positive confirmation of 825.80 per 1 million population.

Likewise with the Philippines at 233.71 per 1 million population, India at 220.71 per 1 million population, Malaysia at 121.19 per 1 million population, and Thailand at 110.20 per 1 million population.

"However, the government, in this case the Indonesian Ministry of Health, must continue to provide facilities in hospitals, especially treatment beds, so that they are provided to the maximum," she said.