Jakarta Tourism Office Prepares Health Protocols for 'New Normal'

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta's Office of Tourism and Creative Economy said they are still formulating health protocols for the new normal policy. Businesses and the tourism sector must comply with the protocols to prevent Covid-19 outbreaks after the economy is reopened.

The office's chief, Cucu Ahmad Kurnia, said they will finalize the protocols before June 4, which is when Jakarta ends its third phase of large-scale social restriction or PSBB.

"We are drafting the protocols with relevant stakeholders such as industry actors and associations. Hopefully it would be completed next week," he told Tempo on Thursday, May 28. 

Among the protocols is maintaining physical distances between people in a queue. Restaurants must also keep tables at least two meters apart. 

President Joko Widodo said Indonesia must try to coexist with Covid-19 to stay productive, especially after the WHO said that the new coronavirus is not going away even though the curve is flattening. 

To live with the virus in existence, Jokowi said that the people need to implement new norms in their daily lives. The president also announced that four provinces—Jakarta, West Java, West Sumatera and Gorontalo—will resume the economy under the "new norms" protocols. 

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH