JAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The Health Ministry's disease control and prevention director general, Achmad Yurianto, has said that many of the new confirmed Covid-19 cases in Indonesia were found in office settings with poor air circulation.

"Many working spaces rely on air-conditioners only. In such settings, the air tends to settle instead of circulating, which increases the risk of transmission," Mr Yurianto said during a press briefing on Thursday (July 16), as quoted by kompas.com.

Besides poor ventilation in indoor settings, Mr Yurianto added, transmissions were also rampant in offices due to people's unruly behaviour of refusing to wear masks or maintain physical distance because they assumed their co-workers were healthy

"Even in office settings where we know the people we encounter, we must remember that those people came from different places with possible Covid-19 risks," he said.

Mr Yurianto emphasised that anyone could be a virus carrier, and that, therefore, wearing a mask was essential.

As of Thursday, Indonesia recorded a total of 81,668 confirmed infections with 3,873 deaths and 40,345 recoveries.