The Indonesian government has decided to scrap the travel ban on international visitors, lifting restrictions imposed on 14 countries in the wake of the Omicron outbreak.
The travel ban was initially imposed on a number southern African countries but was subsequently updated to include the United Kingdom, Denmark, and France.
However, with 76 percent of countries around the globe having now reported Omicron transmissions, the government believes it is no longer possible for Indonesia to discriminate by country.
In a statement issued by the national Covid19 task force, spokesman Wiku Adisasmito said, “If we maintain travel restrictions by countries, it will disturb cross-border travels and eventually impede the national economic recovery,”
All international visitors are now required to self-isolate for seven days upon arrival regardless of their country of origin.
“The aim is to provide a window to detect infection until the onset of the symptoms so that we can keep any infected person away from the community,” Wiku said.
Indonesia grappled with a devastating second wave of infections in July, driven by the spread of the Delta variant.
However, daily case numbers dropped to around 200 by December, before Indonesia’s first case of the more contagious Omicron variant was detected on Dec 16.
According to Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, “Local transmission has been found and Jakarta has become an infection cluster,”
Officials believe infection rates will continue to rise before peaking some time in February.
Confirmed case numbers presently stand at 1054.
Source – Jakarta Globe, newschannelasia.com