Indonesia Shortens Year-End Holiday as Covid-19 Cases Surge

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – The Indonesian government has decided to cut the 2020 year-end holiday by three days from its initial plan as the country’s new confirmed Covid-19 cases continue to rise.

Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy said this was a joint decision of three relevant ministries comprising Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry, Manpower Ministry, and Religious Affairs Ministry.

“The relevant ministries have determined the collective leave days in conjunction with the Christmas and New Year holidays as well as the substitute leave days for Idul Fitri based on the directive [from President Joko Widodo],” Muhadjir said in a press conference on Tuesday, December 1.

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He said the collective leave days for the Christmas holiday start from December 24-27, while the substitute leave days for Idul Fitri will take place only on December 31.

Initially, the government said in April that the substitute leave days for Idul Fitri would be moved to December 28-31 in a bid to anticipate the annual exodus during the celebrations that could cause higher transmission of the Covid-19.

With that, December 28-30 will remain working days.

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“Technically, the reduction in collective leave days is three days as December 28-30 will remain working days,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said, there will be a long weekend holiday in January as the New Year's Day, which is observed on the first day of the month, will fall on Friday.

The Senior Minister went on to say that the agreement on the year-end holiday will be signed by the three ministers.

(Writer: Deti Mega Purnamasari | Editor: Bayu Galih)

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/12/01/18105831/pemerintah-pangkas-libur-akhir-tahun-3-hari-28-30-desember-tetap-masuk?page=all#page2