Indonesia to Lift Travel Ban on 14 Countries

TheIndonesia.id - The Indonesian authorities has decided to lift travel ban from 14 countries with national stability and economic recovery cited as the two main considerations.

Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force Wiku Adisasmito said the government has also prepared necessary measures to prevent and mitigate further spread of COVID-19 variant Omicron, hence the decision to re-allow entry to arrivals from South Africa, Botswana, Norway, France, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini, Lesotho, the United Kingdom, and Denmark.

“In line with the preventive efforts made by the government, COVID-19 Task Force decided to lift entry ban on travelers from 14 countries with community transmission of Omicron,” Adisasmito said in a statement on Friday, January 14.

Considering that Omicron has spread to 150 countries as of January 10, travel ban is predicted to restrict general mobility between countries which, subsequently, will interfere with national stability and Indonesia’s economic recovery, he added.

The ban lift is mandated in COVID-19 Task Force’s circular letter No. 02/2022.

Furthermore, the government also regulates that quarantine duration for all arrivals is 7 days. The mandate is based on scientific research in several countries, including the one conducted in 2021 by Brandal which  found that on average, incubation period in Omicron cases is three days since the virus first infects patient.

Preliminary report on epidemiological investigation on Omicron in Japan this year also found that the highest amount of the virus in patient’s body is found between the third and sixth day, after symptoms appear.

“Principally, quarantine is a period to detect the occurrence of symptoms because there’s gap between when patient is first infected to when patient starts showing symptoms,” Adisasmito explained.

And based on the recent studies, the Indonesian government sees it fit to regulate quarantine period to seven days.