Tarawih Cluster; Ministry Monitors Covid-19 Health Protocols in Mosques

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Religious Affairs Ministry would directly monitor the implementation of the health protocols against Covid-19 in mosques in response to the emergence of a virus infection cluster in Banyumas which was thought to have originated during the Ramadan evening or Tarawih prayers.

“The ministry will conduct monitoring in the field. Hopefully, this (the Banyumas case) will be of our concern,” said Religious Affairs Deputy Minister Zainut Tauhid Sa'adi as quoted from Antara, Wednesday, May 5, 2021.

The ministry had asked mosque administrators to appoint officers tasked to monitor the compliance with the protocols, such as the maximum mosque capacity at 50 percent of the total capacity.

However, the policy leeway only applied to areas classified as green and yellow zones or areas with low to zero risks of virus transmission. Red and orange zones were still prohibited from holding mass Ramadan worship activities at mosques.

Regarding the Covid-19 cluster in Banyumas, Zainut is still waiting for a report from the local regional office on whether or not the implementation of the health protocol has been implemented properly. Perhaps, he suspected, the mosque management had not yet established the protocol monitoring officer.

“The local government must also supervise this,” Zainut added.

He asserted that all parties must comply with all government policies to end the Covid-19 pandemic. “We have issued guidance in which we clearly ask every mosque management to form a special team assigned to monitor the health protocols in houses of worship. We have said it continuously,” said Zainut.

Read: Indian Covid-19 Variant; Jakarta Deputy Gov Calls for Public Vigilance

ANTARA