Omicron; Health Ministry to Tighten Quarantine Rules for International Travelers
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27 December 2021 09:44 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the government was set to tighten the quarantine rules for international travelers arriving in the country in a bid to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
“If people question that it's troublesome, it is really troublesome but only for tens of thousands of people who are relatively more capable [financially] to go overseas,” said Budi in a virtual press conference, Monday, December 27.
He underlined that the measure was aimed at protecting 270 million people who are currently in a good situation of the pandemic.
“So please understand this quarantine process, that we will tighten foreign arrivals for Indonesian citizens,” Budi added.
He said 98 percent of the new coronavirus variant cases were detected on people returning from abroad.
Budi would also mobilize new technology for PCR tests that could detect Omicron infections faster in all major foreign entrances.
“So we can identify Omicron faster using the PCR test which only takes 4-6 hours compared to the genome sequencing test which takes 3-5 days,” he said.
Read: Omicron Cases Hit 46; Govt: Don't Travel Abroad
HENDARTYO HANGGI
