Jakarta (ANTARA) – The ulema have played an important role in raising public awareness amid the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in encouraging the public adoption of the 5M protocols, Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas has said.
The 5M protocols prescribe wearing masks, washing hands, reducing mobility, staying away from crowds, and maintaining a safe distance.
“I believe that the public listens to the ulema. Ulemas play an important role in raising public awareness. I want to reiterate that the context of ulama and leader is very important in efforts to end the pandemic and protect the community,” Qoumas said while delivering a speech at the 46th anniversary of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) in Jakarta on Monday.
The minister then praised the MUI anniversary event, themed ‘Ulema, Leader, and the Community Unite in Facing the COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impacts’.
According to him, the handling of the pandemic cannot be undertaken by the government alone, but requires the participation of the entire community.
The MUI, as a guardian of the agenda of Muslim unity, is considered important in efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic, Qoumas said. It can be at the forefront of educating and inviting the public to reduce transmission and death rates, he added.
Meanwhile, the government as the leader has issued various restrictive policies to protect all levels of society, he said and invited scholars to help make every government policy a success.
“Various restrictions have been issued by the government to provide life protection. Vaccination and drug delivery programs continue to be intensified so that Indonesia can immediately accelerate the achievement of herd immunity,” he added.
The Wisma Atlet Emergency Hospital in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta was treating 4,245 COVID-19 patients as of Sunday (July 25, 2021), according to the hospital’s spokesperson, Colonel Aris Mudian.
“The patients comprising 2,170 men and 2,075 women are being treated in Tower 4, 5, 6 and 7,” he said in a statement that ANTARA received here on Sunday.
The number of patients decreased from 4,534 after 289 patients were discharged from the hospital, he informed. Overall, the number of recovered patients at Wisma Atlet has reached 115,542, he added.
Based on the same data, 959 patients have been referred to other hospitals by Wisma Atlet and 505 others have succumbed to the coronavirus disease in the period from March 23 to July 25, 2021 8.00 a.m. local time, he said.
During the same period, 121,251 patients have been registered at the Wisma Atlet Hospital, and 117,006 people have been discharged from the hospital, he added.
Source: Antara News