Luhut: Umrah Congregants Must Quarantine 7 Days After Returning

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut BInsar Pandjaitan/ANTARA PHOTOS

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Panjaitan said Umrah pilgrims must continue to quarantine upon arrival in Indonesia after returning from Saudi Arabia.

"Still have to quarantine for 7 days, isn't it for the safety of all of us, the security concerned, the security of all of us, right?" said Luhut after attending a limited meeting on the evaluation of PPKM which was chaired directly by President Jokowi at the presidential office in Jakarta, reported by Antara, Monday, January 10.

Previously, the Director General of Hajj and Umrah Organization (PHU) of the Ministry of Religion Hilman Latief said on Saturday, January 8, there were 419 Indonesian Umrah pilgrims who left for Saudi Arabia.

This departure is the first time for Indonesian Umrah pilgrims after the Umrah gate was closed since the beginning of the 2020 pandemic.

"They have already left, is it time for them to come back again?" said Luhut.

The departure of the 419 Umrah pilgrims is said to have followed the "One Gate Policy" procedure, which is a centralized system for departing congregations that has been set by the Ministry of Religion.

The regulation regulates all Umrah pilgrims departing from Soekarno-Hatta Airport and undergoing quarantine in Jakarta.

The policy also regulates health checks, PCR/SWAB tests, checking vaccination status, immigration, and processing other documents.

However, Luhut appealed to the public not to travel abroad except for urgent matters.

"If possible, don't go abroad for the past 2-3 weeks so that it subsides there first so you don't have to come here with the disease. Although (the Omicron variant) is not too dangerous, but if you get hit by a crowd, it's also dangerous. "You can refrain from going out of the country and if you come out of the country comply with the 7-day quarantine protocol, don't ask for dispensation, we also obey," said Luhut.

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin at the same press conference said that the largest contributors to the Omicron positive confirmation cases from foreign travelers (PPLN) came from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United States and the United Arab Emirates.

Budi Gunadi said the positivity rate for the Omicron variant of COVID-19 for PPLN was 13 percent, far above the local transmission positivity rate of 0.2 percent.

"So foreign arrivals are 65 times higher than local transmissions. So most of the current positivity rate (Omicron) is due to foreign arrivals," said Budi.