VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The government cuts collective leave to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 - EDITORIAL

The Indonesian government through a Joint Decree of the Three Ministers has officially reduced the days of collective leave in 2020 from the previously agreed 11 days to 8 days.  The elimination of 3 days of the joint leave is aimed at preventing the spread of Covid-19 from becoming more widespread because people will take advantage of holidays to return to their hometowns or visit tourism attractions.

It seems that the government has learned from the previous decision, when it imposed a long leave of absence at the end of October, and does not want to repeat that mistake. The recent spike in positive cases of Covid-19 is closely related to the long vacation at that time. Collective leave is not certainly the only factor, but it can be assumed it is the biggest factor. Why? Because, the addition of positive cases occurred exactly two weeks after the holiday period. So, it is appropriate if the government cuts off collective leave at the end of the year, not only reducing the collective leave, but banning people to go home, such as the one imposed by the government during the Idul Fitri holidays some time ago.

However, will cutting joint leave at the end of this year be effective in suppressing the spread of Covid-19? Probably not! Public awareness and discipline in implementing the Health Protocols is very important. The spread will be suppressed with high discipline from the community in implementing health protocols and the consistency of the government in implementing the 3T policy (tracing, testing, and treatment) and the enforcement of health protocol regulations is very important.

The government and public  should be able to build synergies to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic which has recorded a daily positive number of nearly 8,400 people more recently. Without discipline and cooperation, the cutting off of collective leave days at the end of this year will be in vain.