These Are The Latest Provisions For Domestic Travelers To Enter The Endemic, They Are Still Required To Wear Masks When Outside Crowds

The situation of Cisarua Market, Bogor Regency, West Java in the midst of a pandemic. (Antara/Yulius Satria Wijaya)

JAKARTA - The COVID-19 Handling Task Force (Satgas) has issued a number of regulations governing domestic travel as an effort to respond to the transition to endemic policies in Indonesia.

"This new provision is a form of adjustment to government policies in entering the pandemic transition for the next six months," said Head of the Health Support Subbid for the Emergency Division of the COVID-19 Task Force Alexander K Ginting confirmed in Jakarta, Wednesday 18 May.

The latest provisions regulated in Circular Letter Number 18 of 2022 concerning Travel Provisions for Domestic People During the COVID-19 Pandemic, among which travellers are still required to use a three-layer cloth mask or a medical mask that covers the nose, mouth and chin while indoors or when in a crowd.

Travelers are also required to maintain a minimum distance of 1.5 meters from other people and avoid crowds and are advised not to speak one-way or two-way by telephone or in person throughout the journey using public transportation modes of land, rail, sea, river, lake, crossing, and air.

Domestic travelers are also required to comply with the provisions for the second and third dose (booster) vaccination, but are not required to show a negative result of the RT-PCR test or rapid antigen test.

Domestic travelers who have received the first dose of vaccination are required to show a negative result of a rapid antigen test whose sample is taken within 1 x 24 hours or a negative result of an RT-PCR test whose sample is taken within 3 x 24 hours before departure as a condition of travel.

For people with special health conditions or comorbid diseases that prevent travelers from receiving vaccinations, they are exempt from the vaccination requirements.

However, it is mandatory to show a negative result of the rapid antigen test whose sample is taken within 1x24 hours or a negative result of the RT-PCR test whose sample is taken within 3x24 hours before departure.

In addition, based on Antara's report, travelers with comorbidities are required to attach a doctor's certificate from a government hospital stating that the person concerned has not and/or cannot take the COVID-19 vaccination.

Domestic travelers under the age of 6 are exempt from the vaccination requirements and are not required to show negative results from the RT-PCR test or rapid antigen test. However, it is mandatory to travel with a travel companion who has complied with the provisions of the COVID-19 vaccination and examination and implements strict health protocols.

Specifically for routine trips using land transportation modes using private or public vehicles, and trains in one urban agglomeration area are excluded from the travel requirements.

The RT PCR provisions are excluded for pioneering modes of transportation including in border areas, disadvantaged areas, frontier, outermost (3T), and limited shipping according to the conditions of each area.

"But the public still has to be vigilant because the pandemic status has not been revoked. The health protocol is still in effect with the issuance of this circular," he said.

Circular Letter No. 18 of 2022 signed by the Head of the COVID-19 Handling Task Force Lt. Gen. Suharyanto officially takes effect today.