Having proven that we don’t deserve nice things (in this case, holidays during a pandemic), the government says it’s considering shortening our time off for the remainder of the year after the last major holiday caused a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy said yesterday that the government is reviewing the remaining public holidays for the year, and may cancel any necessary to prevent another post-holiday COVID-19 surge.
“We had a meeting yesterday with the president to discuss holidays, be it collective leave or individual leave, until December,” Muhadjir said.
“The result [of the meeting] will be announced soon. But it’s certainly in the government’s agenda, in accordance with the president’s order.”
Muhadjir did not say which holiday could be canceled this year. In previous cancellations, the government only cut down on collective leave days and not major public holidays, many of which are for religious celebrations.
Only one government-mandated collective leave day remains in 2021, namely for the day before Christmas on Dec. 24. The next major public holiday from now is Eid al-Adha on July 20.
Also read — Jakarta considers tightening restrictions amid ‘alarming’ COVID-19 surge
