Coordinating Ministry For Human Development And Culture Asks People To Postpone Holidays Before Christmas And New Year

ILLUSTRATION BETWEEN

JAKARTA - Deputy for Coordination of Regional Development Equity and Disaster Management at the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture (Kemenko PMK) Dr. Sudirman asked the public to postpone holidays ahead of Christmas and the 2022 New Year to avoid a potential spike in COVID-19 cases.

In a virtual discussion at the Merdeka Barat 9 Forum, Sudirman said that it was not that the public should not take holidays, but that they were only asked to postpone the holidays which are usually done during the Christmas and New Years.

"We will postpone it because we will endanger ourselves, not ourselves, but ourselves, our families, our brothers and sisters in the village," he said, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, November 30.

Anticipating a surge in mobility ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays, the Minister of Home Affairs Instruction (Imendagri) Number 63 of 2021 concerning the Enforcement of Restrictions on Community Activities Level 3, Level 2 and Level 1 COVID-19 has been issued in the Java and Bali regions.

In addition, the COVID-19 Confectionary Task Force Circular Letter Number 24 of 2021 has been issued which regulates activities for the Christmas and New Year period for domestic travel.

According to the regulation, travelers using private or public vehicles are required to show a certificate of COVID-19 vaccine at least the first dose. Travelers must also have been vaccinated and performed an antigen or PCR test.

Meanwhile, the Head of Health Handling of the COVID-19 Task Force Alexander Ginting said various regulations were issued ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays to avoid a spike in COVID-19 cases.

In addition, the government also wants to anticipate new variants and spikes in cases that occur in several other countries. For this reason, the task force for handling COVID-19 in each province up to the RT/RW level is also requested to be reactivated to anticipate a spike in cases.

"Because we have recognized that PPKM is a reliable instrument in suppressing, limiting mobility, including improving contact tracing, implementing 3M and 3T," said Alexander.