Indonesians celebrate Eid al-Adha festival under COVID-19 curbs

COVID-19 - JAKARTA. Millions of Muslims in Indonesia on Tuesday celebrated Eid al-Adha, one of the most important Islamic festivals, as President Joko Widodo pledged that tighter coronavirus restrictions would remain in place until infection rates dropped.

COVID-19 cases in Indonesia are currently among the highest in the world due to the rapid spread of the Delta variant, despite the imposition this month of the strictest mobility restrictions so far during the pandemic.

Jokowi, as the president is widely known, advised Indonesians to celebrate Eid al-Adha at home, following strict health protocols. Police and transport authorities have also set up checkpoints to prevent travel in the world's largest Muslim majority nation.

Read Also: Bank Indonesia seen standing pat on rates amid severe COVID-19 outbreak

In a streamed statement on the eve of the holiday, Jokowi said movement restrictions would only be lifted once cases have dropped.

"Imagine if this restriction is loosened and then the cases increase again and the hospitals are unable to contain the patients. This would cause our health facilities to collapse," he said.

The health system in some areas has been pushed to breaking point by a deluge of patients and on Monday Indonesia reported a record 1,338 coronavirus deaths.

The government, which is expected to announce a decision soon on whether to extend restrictions, has said it wants daily infections to come down to 10,000.