Viral Video Indonesian Citizens Queue Quarantine Detained At Soekarno Hatta Airport, Luhut: Don't Make Gossips

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, opened his voice over a video recording depicting a queue of Indonesian citizens being stuck at Soekarno Hatta Airport, waiting to receive quarantine facilities from the government.

This group of Indonesian citizens who were stuck in long queues occurred in line with the Wisma Atlet COVID-19 Emergency Hospital which was locked down due to the findings of the Omicron case.

Meanwhile, the group could not get quarantine facilities at the Pasar Rumput Flats because it was already full.

In the video, the recorder admits that the process of placing quarantine after returning from abroad is too time-consuming. He claimed to have been queuing from Maghrib time to Fajr.

Luhut admitted that he had asked the Metro Jaya Police for an explanation regarding the veracity of this viral video on social media. Based on the results of the police raid, it turned out that many Indonesian citizens in the queue had returned from vacation.

"We have asked the Metro Police to conduct a raid at the Soetta airport, which turned out to be a lot of people who spread the video, many of whom were shopping abroad", said Luhut in a virtual press conference, Monday, December 20.

In fact, said Luhut, they are not travelers who can get free quarantine facilities from the government, such as Indonesian migrant workers (PMI), students, and ASN (State Civil Apparatus) returning home from work.

They, said Luhut, should self-quarantine at hotels that have been set by the government.

"He doesn't want to be quarantined at the hotel even though he can. He asked to be quarantined at the Wisma Atlet because it's free", said Luhut.

Therefore, Luhut asked all people not to spread the news that has not been confirmed. Due to the viral video, Luhut admitted that the government would take firm action.

"This is the one who will take action. People who do this kind of action. So, don't make up the news, it's not complete yet. Don't make unnecessary gossip. We have to do everything immeasurably This situation really requires the cooperation of all of us", said Luhut.