Covid-19 Task Force Tightens Foreign Arrivals Monitoring from Europe, Australia

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Covid-19 Mitigation Task Force tightened the supervision of foreign visitor arrivals from the United Kingdom (UK), Europe, and Australia by creating an addendum to circular No. 3/2020 which has been taken effect beginning December 19, 2020, until January 8 next year.

“It specifically regulates travelers from abroad. We want to better anticipate foreign arrivals, including providing RT-PCR test facilities and isolation centers,” said the task force spokesman Wiku Adisasmito in a press release received here on Wednesday, Dec. 23.

The government has tapped 17 hotels with a total capacity of 3,570 rooms as independent isolation centers. The policy, he added, was in response to the rapid dynamic of the new coronavirus disease or Covid-19.

“A new variant of SARS-CoV-2 has been found in the UK named SARS-CoV-2 VUI 202012/01, and there is a spike in cases in Europe and Australia,” Wiku informed.

Thus, foreign citizens arriving from the UK or having transit in other countries are banned from entering Indonesia. 

Meanwhile, foreign and Indonesian nationals from Europe and Australia, as well as Indonesians from the UK who enter Indonesia using either a direct or connecting flight must present a negative result of the RT-PCR test from the origin country which is valid for a maximum of 2x24 hours before departure.

According to Wiku, if the result of the RT-PCR test taken upon arrival shows negative, Indonesian nationals must undergo quarantine for five days at a provided place at their own cost, while heads of foreign representatives and families are allowed to self-isolate at their residence but other foreign diplomats must be in a hotel set by the government.

After the quarantine, they must take another Covid-19 RT-PCR test and if the result turns back negative, they are allowed to resume their plan in Indonesia.

Read: Coronavirus New Variant in UK; WHO Supports Travel Restriction

ANTARA