Christmas decorations are going up around Indonesia cheering up shoppers amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

This footage was filmed yesterday (November 21) at the Plaza Medan Fair shopping centre in Medan, North Sumatra.

This year, the government is urging the public not to mingle with other households at Christmas and New Year.

Indonesia recently passed 5000 new COVID-19 cases in a single day for the first time.

Christianity is Indonesia's second-largest religion, after Islam. Indonesia also has the second-largest Christian population in Southeast Asia after the Philippines

Visitors walk and take selfies at Christmas tree decorations at the entrance and shop area of the Plaza Medan Fair shopping center in Medan, North Sumatra on November 21, 2020.

Santa Claus dolls and Christmas ornaments will add to the simple and minimalistic array of welcoming Christmas early, the light of the Christmas trees sparkling along the shopping center. This Christmas in 2020 is special worldwide because of the pandemic that has hit. But Jesus' birth was good news, a light that gave hope in the dark.

Apart from worship, the community is prohibited from carrying out other activities such as entertainment together at Christmas and New Years. The Indonesian government urges the public not to go around the house-to-house hospitality which has been a tradition during Christmas and New Year celebrations.