JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Maarves) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan reminded the public not to travel abroad if they have no interest, especially for the purpose of vacation.
"The government reminds the public not to go abroad first except for really urgent interests," Luhut said in a virtual press conference, Monday, December 13.
Luhut said this needs to be reminded because now B.1.1.529 has spread to various countries. Luhut did not want Omicron to enter Indonesia and be taken by travelers returning to Indonesia.
"Don't bring disease into the country. We don't want Omicron to be brought in later by those who go on vacation abroad. We recommend taking a vacation in the country, we'll hold it in until things get better," said Luhut.
Luhut said, based on data compiled by Angkasa Pura, it was found a significant increase of up to two times for flights to overseas destinations under normal conditions.
Therefore, the government is carefully anticipating their overseas return by continuing and imposing a 10-day quarantine.
"The additional capacity of quarantine homes and hotels is to anticipate the increase in the number of people being quarantined. The quarantine policy for foreign travelers will continue to be evaluated in accordance with the development of the Omicron variant," Luhut explained.
In addition, the government will also change the status or category of people who have just returned from abroad to black in the PeduliLindung application. This black status will be recorded during the quarantine period or which is currently set for 10 days upon arrival in Indonesia.
"One of the policies that will be carried out is to change the status of Care for Protecting foreign travelers to black during the quarantine period," he explained.
For information, a person's black status in the PeduliLindung application is considered positive for COVID-19 or close contact with a person infected with COVID-19. They should not be able to move in public spaces and must isolate themselves.
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