No Centralized Isolation, Deputy Minister Of Religion Asks Congregants To Pay Attention To Health Conditions Upon Arriving In Indonesia

Health officers from the Class 1 Port Health Office (KKP) give directions to the first batch of pilgrims from West Java upon arrival at Terminal 2 of Soekarno Hatta Airport, Tangerang, Banten, (ANTARA PHOTO/MUHAMMAD IQBAL)

JAKARTA - Deputy Minister of Religion (Wamenag) Zainut Tauhid Sa'adi asked Hajj pilgrims to pay attention to health conditions upon arrival in the country following the decision to eliminate centralized isolation.

"There is no activity called isolation but it is returned to the congregation so that they are more careful. Keep their health," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, July 21.

The Deputy Minister of Religion is one of the Naib Amirul Hajj in organizing the 2022 hajj.

He asked the congregation to pay attention to congenital diseases or diseases that have been their complaints.

"In Indonesia, of course, congregations are expected to carry out early detection of all diseases carried," he said.

In general, the Deputy Minister of Religion assessed that the entire series of the 2022 hajj pilgrimages went smoothly. Currently, pilgrims enter two main activities.

First, preparations for returning to Indonesia for the first batch through Jeddah. The next two-day wave headed to Medina.

"Of course we hope that the congregation will maintain their health, continue to pay close attention to their worship activities so that all worship is safe and returns to the water in a healthy condition," he said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) requires all Indonesian pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia to undergo health screening (screening) at each debarkation to prevent the importation of COVID-19 cases.

"The provisions of the COVID-19 antigen screening examination, which were originally randomly carried out on 10 percent of the total number of pilgrims per group, have now been carried out on all pilgrims returning to Indonesia," said Head of the Health Ministry's Hajj Health Center Budi Sylvana.

The COVID-19 examination for Hajj pilgrims is carried out at the Debarkation Hajj dormitory, through an antigen test. If pilgrims are found with reactive antigen test results, they are immediately confirmed by RT PCR.

"For those who have tested positive, they will self-isolate at home, but they will continue to monitor their health independently for 21 days," he said.

Those who are in good health can immediately return to their respective areas. Pilgrims are asked to fill out the Hajj Pilgrims Health Alert card and carry out health surveillance independently.

"Our congregants ask that they immediately conduct their own examination at the local health facility if they feel there is a health problem," said Budi Sylvana.