Jakarta Vice Governor Ahmad Riza Patria, attended the rally for the 'Lilin 2020' centralized police operations force at Silang Monas Selatan, Central Jakarta, on Monday (12/21). 

On behalf of Jakarta administration, we apologize to the citizens during the pandemic to stay at home with family

In that occasion, he urged not to celebrate the momentum of Christmas and New Year as in previous years, as efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the capital continue. Although the percentage of positive confirmed cases is currently stable at 13%, the public is still advised to avoid crowds.

"On behalf of Jakarta administration, we apologize to the citizens during the pandemic to stay at home with family. Enjoy a variety of entertainment at home, through television media, and so on. Hopefully, we can celebrate this Christmas together with wisdom and peace and celebrate the end of the new year with joy," he expressed, as quoted by Jakarta PPID's press release.

Polda Metro Jaya Chief Insp. Gen. Muhammad Fadul Imran explained, joint personnel would be deployed in the context of security and humanitarian operations during Christmas and New Year, in a bid to provide services to contain the spread of COVID-19 and social service in the community.

Those joint personnel consisted of 83,917 (police), 15,842 (army) and 55,086 (Satpol PP, Fire and Rescue Agency and Transportation Agency). They would be placed at 1,607 security posts to prevent security disturbances and 675 service posts in the center of the crowd, such as stations, terminals, etc.

As for the information, the governor had issued a regulation to prevent a spike in cases due to momentum later this year namely Governor' Call number 64/2020 on the Implementation of Control and number 17/2020 on Control of Community Activities. Hopefully, it may control population mobility thus there is no spike in cases.

"We hope that you (residents) refrain from having a vacation outside the house, let alone out of town. Love the people closest to you from the risk of being exposed to COVID-19," said the governor in a written statement.