Batam Sea Border Surveillance Tightened, Beware Of Fake PCR Test Results

BATAM - The flow of cross-border traffic through Batam City, Riau Islands, has been tightened due to the alleged use of fake PCR test results brought by international migrant workers.

Deputy for Emergency Management of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Mayen TNI Fajar Setyawan said his party was tightening supervision at border gates through sea transportation and ensuring quarantine was going well.

"Entry testing for everyone who comes, mostly PMI, from Malaysia and Singapore is a must. In addition, we will also add new quarantine places," said Fajar Setyawan, during a coordination meeting with Riau Islands Governor Anshar Ahmad, quoted by Antara. , Thursday, December 30.

Batam City is one of two arrival gates by sea opened by the government in the COVID-19 pandemic situation.

Every day, an average of 250 people from Singapore and Johor, Malaysia enter Indonesia via Batam.

Major General Fajar conveyed that 2,750 beds were needed for COVID-19 centralized quarantine facilities in Batam, both those prepared by the government and hotels.

Meanwhile, the number of available beds is currently 2,712 units, resulting in 38 beds less.

Assuming maximum hotel usage, there is still a shortage of quarantine places for foreign travelers.

"The reality on the ground is that there are more PMI arrivals than non-PMI and the use of hotels is not as much as government-owned facilities. Thus, government-owned quarantine facilities must be added so as not to cause buildup," said Fajar.

Currently, the occupancy of centralized quarantine beds for PMI, students, and ASN in Batam has reached 95 percent. As for the hotel by 32 percent.

The spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito, added that during the December period, 353 people were found to be positive for COVID-19.

"This figure has more than doubled from 168 cases in November. Most of them were positive during the second PCR test. This shows a 10-day quarantine is effective for screening, so that wider transmission can be prevented," he said.

Of the cases of COVID-19 transmission by international travelers through Batam, the results of "whole genome sequencing (WGF)" have not found any Omicron variants.

According to Wiku, the priority of mitigating the Batam sea route transmission at this time is to tighten border guarding considering that many PMIs from Malaysia have tested positive for COVID-19.

"In addition, the addition of quarantine beds is also a priority for the current government to anticipate an increase in arrivals in the Christmas and New Year 2022 periods," he said.