Although the majority of new infections are occurring in Java, other provinces are also seeing a gradual increase in local COVID-19 transmission. Nevertheless, the government announced its surprising decision to ease the large-scale restrictions (PSBB) in several sectors.

Among the most controversial is to relax the restrictions in places of worship. This policy is not only nonurgent, but also misguided.

The intention behind the policy decision can be traced back to a virtual meeting between the Religious Affairs Ministry and lawmakers on May 11, when they agreed to “consider easing restrictions for […] places of worship, particularly for non-red zones, while also [observing] the COVID-19 protocols”.

Relaxing the PSBB for business sectors for economic reasons had somehow led to political reasons for relaxing the social restrictions on religious worship, with many politicians criticizing the government for not practicing impartiality. They pointed to the now crowded malls that had been allowed to reopen whereas mosques were still prohibited from opening, which led to accusations that the government was discriminating against the interests of religiously devout citizens.

Yet impartiality and fairness in COVID-19 management and in deciding which sectors would be allowed to open and when, must also be accompanied by rationality; in this case, the general acknowledgement that new infections tended to emerge following close physical contact in places of worship, and in particular, the increase in Muslim worshippers observing the obligatory and recommended daily prayers as a congregation at mosques during the recent fasting month of Ramadan and the subsequent by Idul Fitri holiday.

Many worshippers ignored the appeals and warnings, despite the public information campaigns advising that all forms of worship should be observed at home because of the epidemic.

For example, Jakarta reported on May 11 that the imam of a local mosque had tested positive for COVID-19. More than 20 people who had been in direct contact with the imam were then required to take swab tests and to self-quarantine.

Similar cases were also recorded in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), Jambi and South Sulawesi, where the tarawih evening prayers were held as a congregation; and this despite the advisories from government authorities and religious organizations that tarawih, and even the Eid prayer marking the end of Ramadan, was not obligatory and could be observed at home, particularly during an epidemic.

New cases of infection occurred following congregational attendance at religious services elsewhere, including East Java, Batam in the Riau Islands and Central Java.

Therefore, refraining from relaxing the restrictions for places of worship is not “unfair” to the faithful. It is instead a fair decision: whether for the overworked, overstretched health workers, for the followers of any faith who are complying with the government appeal to worship at home, and for those authorities tasked with the arduous responsibility of contact tracing as well as those authorities tirelessly distributing social assistance to those in need.

Maintaining the social restrictions for places of worship is also rational, as the latest cases reveal poor monitoring even when the PSBB was in place.

Before easing the restrictions for religious activities, authorities should check whether the essential ingredient of clear communication has been effective.

Clear communication refers to the authorities’ ability to persuade people that worshipping at home during the epidemic is necessary no matter what, and that doing so would not undermine the quality of their worship.

However, we have seen inconsistent messages from the Religious Affairs Ministry. For instance, Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Zainut Tauhid was quoted in reports on May 11 as saying that places of worship could continue to provide services as long as they followed the health protocols, were located in areas with few COVID-19 cases, and as long as their management consulted local authorities on the area’s “COVID-19 zone” status beforehand.

This clearly contradicts President Jokowi’s appeal for the people to continue to work, study and worship at home to prevent further infection.

The deputy minister’s statement turns a blind eye to the many attempts to violate the social restrictions for many reasons, among them perhaps a strong sense of devoutness during the holy month.

Several incidents of worshippers attempting to fool officials were reported from cities with a high number of confirmed cases. A mosque in Makassar, South Sulawesi, switched off its lights so that the authorities would not realize that it was holding congregational tarawih on the first few nights of Ramadan.

Residents in West Lombok, NTB, protested the closure of a local mosque following an increase in COVID-19 cases in the province.

Some worshippers in Pare-Pare, South Sulawesi, insisted on holding congregational tarawih, despite the notice posted on the closed gate of a local mosque that it was not holding congregational prayers because of the epidemic. While police successfully mediated the public quarrel with officials, it is evident that clear communication was lacking.

The deputy minister’s statement also disregards the fact that some local administrations failed to exhibit good leadership in implementing the restrictions for places of worship.

Take Riau province, for example, where Indragiri Hulu Regent Yopi Arianto prayed at a mosque even though the provincial government had ordered residents to worship at home after Riau was declared a red zone, as reported on April 28. His action clearly sent a wrong and confusing signal to the local community.

Other authorities seemed ignorant of the fact that asymptomatic COVID-19 cases are everywhere.

The regent of East Bolaang Mongondow in North Sulawesi suddenly announced the resumption of religious services, citing reports on the abovementioned meeting between the Religious Affairs Ministry and lawmakers, even while the national government had not revised its restrictions for places of worship,.

This incident again shows the urgency of communicating clearly about the necessity of restricting congregational activities at places of worship.

We lack the fundamental requirements to start easing the restrictions: clear communication and effective, regular monitoring.

Instead of easing the restrictions, we should intensify random inspections on health protocol compliance, conduct rapid testing at places of worship, improve law enforcement against quarantine violators, and increase briefing and training sessions on religious matters for local officials and religious leaders.

The efforts to mitigate the epidemic needs the unwavering support of all sides in countering the stubborn ignorance that is undermining all the hard work being done to curb COVID-19 transmission.

***

The writer is disaster management researcher, CSIS Indonesia. The original, unshortened version of this article was published in the May 29, 2020 edition of CSIS Commentaries.

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