We must not be reckless
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government has required church administrators holding offline worship to form a COVID-19 task force and monitor the implementation of the health protocols in the church environment.

"The church's COVID-19 task force may consist of church managers, church fellowship associations, behavior change ambassadors, or volunteers," spokesperson for Indonesia's COVID-19 Handling Task Force Wiku Adisasmito said at an online press conference here on Thursday.

Church administrators must also design systematic monitoring for the implementation of the health protocols to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in the church environment, he added.

"We must not be reckless. Moreover, we will soon enter the Christmas and New Year period, when community mobility and activities tend to increase and have the potential to increase COVID-19 transmission," he remarked.

According to Adisasmito, the government has implemented several restrictions to prevent COVID-19 spread, including tightening entry conditions for international travelers.

"However, this effort will not be able to maintain the low rate of cases or prevent a third wave (of COVID-19) in Indonesia if not supported by other efforts from the community and the government," he stressed.

The spokesperson said that at least four things must be done to control COVID-19 transmission during the Christmas and New Year's holidays: reducing people's mobility, increasing vaccination coverage, improving people's health protocols compliance, as well as increasing testing and tracing.

Earlier, assistant operations for the National Police Chief, Inspector General of Police Imam Sugianto, informed that as many as 44,582 police personnel would be deployed to secure several churches in the country during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

To secure the holidays, the National Police is involving several parties, such as religious, community, and youth leaders as well as community organizations, for encouraging the people to continue to follow the health protocols and reduce their mobility, he added.

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Translator: Zubi Mahrofi, Raka Adji
Editor: Sri Haryati
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