TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Bali Governor Wayan Koster asserted that the government’s decision to require tourists entering the Island of Gods by air transportation to present negative results of the Covid-19 swab test was under consideration of the health and mental safety of the community as a top priority.

“Thus in principle, health must be prioritized when traveling. Not only for themselves, but also for those around them,” said Koster on Wednesday, Dec. 16.

Koster admitted that the policy which was stipulated in the Gubernatorial Circular No. 2021/2020 was quite surprising for many as it was announced in sudden and will take effect beginning December 18, 2020, until January 4 next year.

“As instructed by the central government, swab tests are mandatory and cannot be negotiated. There are no arguments, we must follow it,” said Koster.

He added that the rule was aimed at protecting Bali and preventing a spike in cases following increasing numbers of tourists. “We do not want our good efforts [in mitigating Covid-19] so far to be failed again,” the governor underlined.

To that end, Koster opined that related parties need to sit together to address upcoming crucial times of year-end holidays since it was highly predicted that Bali will see a significant hike of tourist arrivals.

Also Read: Bali Issues Policy on Mandatory PCR Test for Airline Passengers

ANTARA