TheIndonesia.id - The Indonesian government plans to add three quarantine sites in Jakarta for international travelers, spokesperson for the COVID-19 Response Task Force, Prof. Wiku Adisasmito, has said.
“Right now, we plan to add three centered quarantine facilities in Jakarta,” he said in a press statement on COVID-19 handling in Jakarta on Tuesday, December 21, 2021.
Three places will be converted into centered quarantine sites—Penggilingan flats in East Jakarta, Daan Mogot flats in West Jakarta, and the Education Quality Security Institution (LPMP) building in South Jakarta, he informed.
The addition of quarantine sites is in response to the government's decision to extend the quarantine period to 14 from 10 days earlier due to the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in 92 countries, Adisasmito said.
In addition, the step has been taken to respond to the increasing number of international travelers arriving in Indonesia by sea and air in the past couple of months, he informed.
The number of international travelers stood at one to two thousand in October 2021, he noted. The figure is expected to have doubled to four thousand in December 2021, he said.
The Entikong cross-border post on December 10, 2021, witnessed a surge in the number of international travelers to almost 300, he added. Meanwhile, the Batam Center Port saw the number of travelers increase to 400 in mid-December 2021 compared to 100–200, the spokesperson said.
Because of the significant increase in the number of international travelers, he asked Indonesians planning to make overseas trips to set aside additional funds to finance quarantine.