Are You From Overseas? At Least It Will Be Mandatory To Take This Series Of Tests First

JAKARTA - The government's efforts to prevent the transmission of the Delta variant of COVID-19 are carried out by requiring foreign travelers to undergo a minimum of three COVID-19 tests before the completion of the quarantine period. testing, one test in the country of origin, then two entry and exit tests in Indonesia," said Head of the Professional Development Division of the Association of Indonesian Epidemiologists (PAEI) Masdalina Pane in the Productive Dialogue of Thursday's News with the theme "Beware of New Variants". Jakarta as quoted from Antara, Thursday, November 4.

He added that the reduction of the quarantine period from five days to three days refers to the experience of other countries which have also relaxed the quarantine process because the vaccination process has gone quite well.

Masdalina also asked the government to pay special attention to travelers from countries that are currently experiencing an increase in COVID-19 cases.

"If we look at Singapore, Britain, most of Europe, including Russia, these are areas that must receive special attention," he said.

The government is also asked to carry out whole genome sequencing of positive cases from foreign travelers.

"The government is also increasing the sequencing carried out on travellers, especially from severe infections," he said.

This vigilance is important because according to him, the Delta and Delta Plus variants of COVID-19 have higher reproduction rates compared to other variants.

In addition, people who have just contracted the Delta variant of COVID-19 can quickly infect other people.

"He has just been infected, he is already able to transmit it, so he doesn't have to wait two days to be infected, he is also capable of transmitting it, so in addition to transmitting it more quickly, it is also more infectious," he explained.