Indonesia shortens quarantine, to reopen to travellers from 18 countries

Indonesia is reopening its border to allow arrivals from 18 countries and the mandatory quarantine period will be cut down from 8 days to 5. An official overseeing the country’s pandemic response did not specify which countries are included in Indonesia’s reopening plan. Indonesia’s borders have been gradually reopening and the airport on the tourist island Bali will resume international arrivals on Thursday.

Bloomberg News reported that the coordinating minister for maritime and investment affairs, Luhut Panjaitan, who has been in charge of Indonesia’s pandemic response says visitors from 18 countries will begin being allowed into Indonesia, although he did not specify which ones.

Indonesia has been slowly but steadily reopening. Gyms and cinemas have opened up again, and Covid-19 infections and deaths are on a decline.

Foreign visa applications were allowed to resume, and then this week Bali is opening up to tourists again. Entry is only permitted for visitors that are fully vaccinated, have insurance that covers Covid-19 and are coming from a country with a positivity rate of below 5%.

Only 21% of the Indonesian population is fully vaccinated. Surveys are being conducted across 100 cities to try and identify the location of any Covid clusters. This data will be used so that authorities can create a more cohesive plan on how to stamp out further infections, while continuing to reopen the country.

SOURCE: Bloomberg News