Home Minister Issues Instruction for 2021 Christmas, NYE Celebration during Pandemic

Minister of Foreign Home Affairs issued Instruction of the Minister of Home Affairs Number 66 of 2021 on Prevention and Handle of Corona Virus Disease 2019 during the 2021 Christmas and 2022 New Year Celebration.

“The ministerial instruction shall take effect from 24 December 2021 to 2 January 2022. Once the Instruction of the Minister of Home Affairs is in effect, Instruction of the Minister of Home Affairs Number 62 of 2021 is revoked and declared null and void,” the instruction reads.

The provisions stipulated by the Circular are as follows:

In the 2021 Christmas and 2022 New Year celebration during the COVID-19 pandemic, governors, regents, and mayors are required to:

1. optimize functions of COVID-19 Task Force in their respective areas, including the provinces, regencies/municipalities, districts, sub-districts, villages, and neighboring units starting 20 December 2021;
2. enforce stricter health protocols (wearing face mask, washing hands, maintain safe distance, limiting mobility, and avoiding crowds) and implement 3T (testing, tracing, treatment) measures, as well as pay close attention to air circulation, time, and distance when interacting with others in order to minimize risk of virus transmission during the activities;
3. speed up vaccination drive of the first doses to cover 70 percent of target population and 48.57 percent for the second doses, and prioritize vaccination for elderly by the end of December 2021;
4. commence vaccination for children aged 6-11 once vaccination coverage reaches 70 percent of target population for the first dose and vaccination coverage of the first dose for elderly reaches 60 percent;
5. coordinate with Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda) and other stakeholders including religious figures, prominent figures, mass organizations, hotel managers, managers of tourist destination spots, malls/shopping centers, businesses, and related sides based on characteristics of their respective regions in order to enforce discipline in complying with provisions of laws and regulations,
6. enforce stricter mobility limitation of those entering the country including the Indonesian Migrant Workers to anticipate mudik (exodus) before Christmas;
7. intensify the use of PeduliLindungi surveillance app before entering public places such as public facilities, entertainment facilities (shopping center and restaurant), tourist attraction, and houses of worship;
8. enforce stricter health protocols and the monitoring at places which attract crowds, such as in:
   1. churches or other places where the 2021 Christmas services take place;
   2. shopping centers; and
   3. local tourist attractions.
9. implement public activity restrictions from 24 December 2021 to 2 December 2022, including;
   1. organize art and cultural activities, as well as sports events, that potentially increase risk of COVID-19 transmission, without spectators; and
   2. limit people attending events other than celebration of Christmas and New Year to 50 people and implement strict health protocols.
10. close all squares from 31 December 2021 to 1 January 2022;
11. arrange and anticipate street vendors’ activities at the crowds to ensure safe distance between sellers and buyers;
12. appeal those who are going to go out of town to:
    1. optimize the use of PeduliLindungi surveillance app;
    2. meet the requirements for long-distance travel for those using public transportation, namely:
       1. they must fully-vaccinated and take antigen rapid test 1 x 24 hours before departure; and
       2. persons who have not received vaccines or cannot take vaccine jab due to medical reasons are banned from long-distance travel.
    3. Requirements for long-distance travel for those using public transportation are regulated by the National COVID-19 Task Force; and
    4. In the event that those as referred to in number 2 are tested positive for COVID-19, they must conduct self-isolation or isolate at government facilities to prevent the spread of virus for a period determined by the procedures and conduct tracing on close contact;
13. order regional governments including the Public Order Agency (Satpol PP), Public Protection Unit (Satlinmas), Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), and firefighters to improve their preparedness and involvement in:
    1. restrict and control public activities that might impede public order; and
    2. restrict and control crowd at public activities, entertainment facilities (shopping center and restaurant), tourist attraction, and houses of worship.

The instruction also regulated that:

1. the 2021 Christmas service and celebration will be further regulated by the Ministry of Religious Affairs;
2. the distribution of first semester report cards and school holidays will be further regulated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology;
3. the celebration of the New Year 2022 should be carried out individually/with family, to avoid crowds and The public are appealed to carrying out activities in their environments that will not potentially cause crowds;
4. indoor and outdoor new year’s parades and processions as well as Old and New Year events that have the potential to cause crowds are prohibited;
5. PeduliLindungi surveillance app must be used before entering and leaving the mall/shopping center. Only visitors with the green category are allowed to enter;
6. Christmas and New Year celebration are banned at shopping centers and malls, unless the exhibition for Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs);
7. operational hours of shopping centers and malls are extended from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. to from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., implement stricter health protocols, and limit capacity of the places to 75 percent
   in a bid to minimize crowds; and
8. restaurants inside shopping centers and malls are allowed to open at 75 percent capacity and must implement stricter health protocols.
9. increase alert on tourist attractions, especially in favorite tourism destinations, namely: Bali, Bandung, Bogor, Yogyakarta, Malang, Surabaya, Medan, and others;
10. identify tourist attractions that are the target of holidays in each regency/municipality and ensure good health protocols implemented;
11. odd-even traffic policy is applied to organize visits to priority tourist attractions;
12. stricter health protocols are imposed (wearing face mask, washing hands, maintaining safe distance, limiting mobility, and avoiding crowds);
13. it is ordered to intensify dissemination, enhance and enforce the use of PeduliLindungi surveillance app at the entrance and exit of tourist destinations. Only allow visitors with green category to enter the places;
14. ensure that there are no crowds that could result in an inability to maintain a distance;
15. visitors of a tourist attraction are limited to 75 percent of the total capacity;
16. indoor and outdoor parties that might cause crowds are banned;
17. the use of loudspeakers to gather people in large numbers is not allowed; and
18. public activities including arts and cultural events that might potentially increase COVID-19 spread are not allowed.

“Other provisions on Prevention and Handle of Corona Virus Disease 2019 during the 2021 Christmas and 2022 New Year Celebration may be later regulated by regional heads according to the latest COVID-19 development in their respective regions by enforcing stricter regulations to prevent the hike in COVID-19 cases due to public activities during Christmas and New Year,” Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian said, Thursday (12/09). (Ministry of Home Affairs PR/UN) (RAS/LW)