Indonesia Shortens Year-End Holiday to Contain Virus Outbreak

Indonesia cut short its year-end holiday in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus infections, after a long weekend in October led to a spike in confirmed cases weeks later.

The government shortened the break by three days, setting Dec. 24-25 as well as Dec. 31-Jan. 1 as public holidays, compared with an 11-day long stretch previously. The holiday had been lengthened as days were moved from the mid-year Eid al-Fitr holiday, which had also been cut short.

The country is grappling with Southeast Asias largest outbreak, with more than half a million cases confirmed so far. An association of doctors had urged the government to shorten or even scrap the holiday entirely as health workers struggled to keep up with the workload. The shorter holiday could deal a blow to airlines as well as tourist hot spots like Bali, which had banked on the year-end for a revival in consumer demand.