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Government issues guidelines on religious celebrations
The government, through the Religious Affairs Ministry, has issued guidelines on religious celebrations during the COVID-19 pandemic to boost awareness and ensure the safety of people taking part in religious celebrations.
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Upcoming event: Muslims around the world will commemorate the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad on Oct. 19. The government has just issued a religious affairs ministerial decree to regulate religious celebrations to avoid large-scale gatherings that might lead to an increase in COVID-19 infections. (Courtesy of tribunnews/Madeenah.com)
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he government, through the Religious Affairs Ministry, has issued guidelines on religious celebrations during the COVID-19 pandemic to boost awareness and ensure the safety of people taking part in religious celebrations. The guidelines are expected to reduce the risk of virus transmission during upcoming religious celebrations.
Officially, the guidelines were included in Religious Affairs Ministerial Decree No. 29/2021, which was issued on Thursday.
“Through the guidelines, which were issued in an attempt to control virus transmission, we are warned that the virus is still living around us, thus we need to maintain alertness,” Communications and Information Minister Johnny G. Plate said.
Johnny went on to say that “With the presence of such clear guidelines, it is expected that the people will feel safe to take part in religious celebrations such as the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, Christmas and any other major religious celebrations.”
The guidelines include the prohibition of parades involving many people during religious celebrations. Furthermore, Johnny said the government had issued several rules in line with the level of public activity restrictions (PPKM) implemented in respective regions. Regions implementing PPKM levels 1 and 2 are allowed to organize face-to-face religious events provided that strict health protocols are enforced. Regions implementing PPKM levels 3 and 4 are advised to organize such events virtually.
Face-to-face events at regions implementing PPKM level 3 and 4 are allowed under several conditions, such as that they are held in an outdoor location. If an event is organized indoors, then the capacity of participants should not exceed 50 percent of the room capacity or a maximum of 50 people, with the obligation to comply with strict health protocols.
Those living near the event location will be prioritized to attend, and events will be under strict monitoring of the local COVID-19 task force.
“The government has also encouraged the implementation of the PeduliLindungi application in houses of worship and other places that may be used to during religious celebration events,” Johnny said.
The government has expected people to obey the guidelines and pledged its commitment to keep monitoring the implementation with great discipline.
“Let us go shoulder to shoulder in fighting the pandemic. Stay alert, obey the rules, spread awareness and continue to comply with health protocols, as COVID-19 is still there and threatening our lives,” said Johnny.
