TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Health Ministry has recorded the highest COVID-19 transmission among office clusters. The ministry, which is spearheaded by Minister Terawan Agus Putranto, has logged 252 positive cases as of September 18, 2020.

The ministry’s Director General of Disease Prevention and Control, Achmad Yurianto, said that most likely employees contracted the virus from outside the office, so that the ministry could not categorize it as an infection cluster.

“The odds are unlikely that they were infected in the office because only a few people work at the office, there is sterilization every Thursday. All meetings are held online,” said Yuri via phone call with Tempo on Friday, September 18, 2020.

Many employees, he added, also served out-of-the-office duties, such as those assigned at the Port Health Offices and hospitals. “Those who work outside the office are obliged to undergo PCR tests,” he added.

Achmad Yurianto went on to say that the 252 cases were cumulative data collected since last May. “Those tested positive must be isolated. Now many of them have recovered.”

Other than the Health Ministry, 50 ministerial offices in Jakarta recorded high COVID-19 cases, including the Transportation Ministry with 175 cases, the Defense Ministry with 64 cases, the Finance Ministry with 62 cases, and the Communication and Information Ministry with 55 cases.

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DEWI NURITA