Education and Culture Minister Nadiem Makarim has called on people to stay at home to prevent the novel coronavirus from spreading.

Through a short video uploaded to social media, Nadiem told people to work from home and avoid public places in fear of transmitting the virus to others.

“I’ve seen that there are a lot of people who are still going out despite being able to work from home,” Nadiem said, adding that he recorded the video from his house.

He also implored the public to not take the virus lightly since it could spread quickly between people. Although some infected people may not exhibit the symptoms, they still could infect people with weak immune systems.

“So please remember, every time we go out our presence could threaten someone else’s life,” he said in the video.

Read also: IYSF scientist praises social distancing policy, urges govt to cancel ‘mudik'

“Let us save Indonesian lives by working from home, studying from home and praying from home,” he adds.

The government has called all Indonesians to practice what epidemiologists call social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the country. Several major companies in Jakarta had been instructing their staff to work from home over the concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus.

As of Tuesday afternoon, health authorities have confirmed 134 COVID-19 positive cases across the country. Eight cases have recovered , while five others died from COVID-19.

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