Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas has asked Indonesians to temporarily worship in their homes to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
"The daily number of positive COVID-19 cases is still increasing. For the time being, let us reduce mobility, be patient, and stay at home. For the time being, we will carry out worship at home," he said in a press release issued by the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Jakarta on Friday.
Houses of worship in emergency community activity restrictions (PPKM) zones and high (red) and medium (orange) COVID-19 transmission risk zones need to be temporarily closed to prevent crowding, which can increase the risk of coronavirus spread, Qoumas explained.
"Public worship activities in the emergency PPKM zone, as well as the red and orange zones outside the emergency PPKM (zone), will continue to be carried out at home," he said.
The minister asked citizens to comply with government regulations that are aimed at suppressing the transmission of COVID-19.
"Let us work from home and worship from home. Limiting mobility out of the house is part of a joint effort to break the chain of spread of COVID-19," he urged.
The government has implemented emergency PPKM in Java and Bali regions from July 3 to July 20, 2021.
The minister invited the public to take advantage of the emergency PPKM period to increase worship.
"Let us make our homes a paradise, a comfortable place to share our feelings as well as become an effective mental education medium for a generation that has quality and character," he said.
Earlier, Coordinating Economic Affairs Ministry's special staff, Raden Pardede, had informed that at least 47.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered to Indonesians by July 6, 2021, with daily vaccinations targeted to be increased to 1-2 million in August.
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“In the attempts to stem the transmission of COVID-19 and to achieve herd immunity, we continue to accelerate vaccinations that touched one million and even 1.5 million on July 1 (2021). We have set the target of two million daily doses,” Pardede said during an online discussion here on Wednesday.
The government is striving to expedite the immunization program to achieve the target of 1-1.5 million daily vaccinations by the end of July this year, whilst maintaining to secure vaccine supplies, he noted.
According to the vaccination roadmap, the government is targeting 1.5 million daily vaccinations by July, 1.5 million by August, 1.8 million by September, 1.8 million - 3 million by October, 2.8 million - 3 million by November, and 5 million by December this year.
The roadmap has been designed since the government is seeking to achieve herd immunity in Greater Jakarta by the third quarter of 2022, in Java and Bali by the end of 2021, and all Indonesian regions by the first quarter of 2022.
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Editor : Mahdani
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