DPR Deputy Speaker Deems Entry Ban Revocation Contradictory
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17 January 2022 19:30 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - House of Representatives (DPR) Deputy Speaker Muhaimin Iskandar slammed the COVID-19 Task Force for lifting the entry ban on people entering Indonesia from 14 countries which took effect starting January 12, 2022. Cak Imin, as he was familiarly known, considered the policy to be contradictory to the efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The policy revocation is contradictory to the government's efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, especially the Omicron variant in Indonesia,” he said in a written statement, Monday, January 1.
The National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman thus asked the government to review the decision and re-close the access gates for flights from 14 countries.
“The surge in cases reaching above 1,000 must be watched out for. Don't take our guards off. International arrivals must also be controlled because some cases come from overseas travel,” he underlined.
The 14 countries are South Africa, Botswana, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini, Lesotho, Norway, France, United Kingdom, and Denmark as they have confirmed local transmission of the Omicron variant.
The COVID-19 Task Force recently lifted the entry ban on considerations of national stability, including economic recovery and mitigation in the country. A spokesman for the task force, Wiku Adisasmito, said the ban was revoked to ease cross-country movement since the Omicron variant has spread to almost all countries.
Read: COVID-19 Task Force Revokes Entry Ban for 14 Countries
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