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COVID-19 Soars, Minister Of Religion Yaqut Issues Circular On Restrictions On Activities In Houses Of Worship

Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas (Photo: Twitter @YaqutCQoumas)

JAKARTA - Minister of Religion (Menag) Yaqut Cholil Qoumas issued a circular letter to guide the community in carrying out activities in houses of worship. Along with the surge in cases of COVID-19 in the past month in various regions accompanied by the emergence of new variants.

Through Circular Letter No. SE 13 of 2021 concerning Restrictions on the Implementation of Religious Activities in Houses of Worship, the Minister of Religion hopes that religious people can continue to carry out worship activities while maintaining the safety of their souls by adjusting the current conditions in their respective regions.

"I have issued a circular, as a guide for efforts to prevent, control, and break the chain of the spread of COVID-19 in places of worship," said Minister of Religion Yaqut in Jakarta, Wednesday, June 16.

Minister of Religion Yaqut explained that religious activities in the red zone area were temporarily suspended until the area was declared safe from COVID-19. The determination of the change in the zone area is carried out by the respective regional governments.

"Social religious and community activities, such as public recitations, gatherings, weddings, and the like in the multipurpose room within the house of worship are also temporarily suspended in the red and orange zones until conditions permit," said the Minister of Religion.

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The Minister of Religion said that worship activities at places of worship in areas that were declared safe from the spread of COVID-19 could only be carried out by residents of the local environment while still implementing strict COVID-19 health protocol standards.

 

For the technical implementation, continued Yaqut, the Ministry of Religion has regulated this through the Minister of Religion Circular No. SE. 1 of 2020 concerning the Implementation of the COVID-19 Handling Protocol in Houses of Worship. To his staff at the central level, the Minister of Religion also asked to monitor the implementation of this circular in stages.

 

Likewise, the Heads of Provincial Offices of the Ministry of Religion, Head of Regency/Municipal Ministry of Religion Offices, Heads of Sub-District Religious Affairs Offices, Religious Counselors, Leaders of Religious Community Organizations, and administrators of houses of worship were also instructed to monitor.