TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - News about an Instagram influencer Rachel Vennya who escaped the mandatory quarantine after traveling abroad became a public spotlight. The National COVID-19 Task Force spokesman Wiku Adisasmito underlined people who do not comply with the quarantine rules will be subject to sanctions based on applicable regulations.

“People who do not heed the appeal for quarantine can be subject to sanctions as stated in Article 14 of Law No. 4 of 1984 on Infectious Disease Outbreaks and Article 93 of Law No. 6 of 2018 on health quarantine,” said Wiku in an online press conference, Thursday, October 14.

Article 93 of the health quarantine stipulates that people who fail to adhere to or hinder the health quarantine orders could face one year in prison and/or a fine of Rp100 million at maximum.

Article 14(1) of the Infectious Disease Outbreaks Law states that those who hinder the handling of outbreaks could face one year in prison and/or a maximum fine of Rp1 million.

Wiku said the enforcement of the health quarantine rules is supervised by the integrated joint task force (Kogasgabpad) which consists of the Indonesian Military and National Police personnel.

News of the celebrity dodging the quarantine first emerged on Twitter after a netizen uploaded a screenshot of Rachel Vennya’s photo with her boyfriend, Salim Nauderer, outside the quarantine site Wisma Atlet while her quarantine period is not yet over. According to the task force’s decree No. 18/2021, people who have just arrived from abroad are required to undergo quarantine for eight days.

Jakarta Military Command as the COVID-19 Integrated Joint Task Force Commander then investigated the case. Based on the preliminary investigation, it was found out that military personnel at Soekarno-Hatta Airport identified as FS committed non-procedural actions.

“[FS] arranged a way so that Rachel could avoid the quarantine process,” said Jakarta Military Command spokesman Col. Herwin BS in a statement on Thursday, October 14.

Herwin said his side would launch investigations on the military personnel immediately. “The investigation will also be carried out on health workers, security personnel, and other quarantine organizers,” he concluded.

Read: International Traveler Quarantine Period Cut to 5 Days

DEWI NURITA | FRISKI RIANA