TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The palace spokesman Fadjroel Rachman said President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has instructed Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto to open up a temporary office in Natuna following the evacuation of 238 Indonesian citizens from Hubei, China due to coronavirus outbreak.

“Health Minister and team are ordered by the President to have an office in Natuna as the health protection assurance,” said Fadjroel via a written statement on Monday, February 3.

To ensure the optimal protection for all citizens, Fadjroel added, the President also instructed all airlines to halt flights from and to China starting February 5, 2020. “Migrants arrived from China and have been there for 14 days are not allowed to enter and transit in Indonesia.”

According to Fadjroel, the government also stopped the visa-free and on-arrival visa services for Chinese citizens.

“President Jokowi calls on all Indonesians to not travel to China until the coronavirus outbreak is declared to have ended by the authorities such as the Health Ministry and WHO,” Fadjroel underlined.

Fadjroel said that besides a variety of attempts to prevent the spread of the deadly virus around the world, Indonesia also pushes for scientific collaboration to find ways to treat the epidemic with world scientists.

DEWI NURITA