"Some 44,582 police personnel have been deployed to provide security at churches," Assistant Operations of the National Police Chief Inspector General Imam Sugianto informed here, Wednesday.
Sugianto explained that police personnel will be deployed at several churches in the country that hold Christmas Mass and New Year's Mass.
"A total of 30,761 personnel will be deployed at Protestant Churches and 13,821 personnel in Catholic Churches," he added.
Related news: Gov't issues circular addendum to restrict mobility during holidays
In addition, the Police will conduct church sterilization before and after the Christmas and New Year's Mass.
Apart from securing churches, Polri has also deployed its personnel to secure public places during the Christmas and New Year 2022 holidays, such as shopping centers and tourist attractions.
"Some 3,956 personnel will guard shopping centers, and 6,397 personnel will be deployed at tourist attractions," he remarked.
Sugianto affirmed that in securing the 2021 Christmas and New Year 2022 holidays, the National Police had involved several parties, such as religious, community, and youth leaders as well as community organizations, in encouraging the community to continue to follow health protocols and reduce their mobility.
In a bid to curb COVID-19 transmission, the Indonesian government has issued the Addendum to Circular Letter (SE) Number 24 of 2021 to control the people’s mobility and socio-economic activities during the 2021 Christmas and 2022 New Year holidays.
One of the aspects regulated is that people over 17 years of age that have not yet received the complete dose vaccination or cannot receive it due to medical reasons are temporarily not allowed to travel.
Related news: Police prohibit Xmas, New Year celebrations that can cause crowding
Translator: Laily Rahmawaty, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
