Foreigners Who Enter Bali Must Undergo PCR Swab Test 2 Times, And Will Be Quarantined For 5 Days

ILLUSTRATION / DEPARTURE OF AIRCRAFT FROM NGURAH RAI BALI AIRPORT (ANTARA)

DENPASAR - Chairperson of the Task Force for Handling COVID-19, Doni Monardo emphasized that the plan to open the door to tourism in Bali must be accompanied by the implementation of strict health protocols. Foreigners who enter Bali must also undergo quarantine.

"Foreigners who enter Bali are required to undergo health protocols in accordance with SE Task Force for COVID-19 Number 8 of 2021, starting from PCR test twice to quarantine for five days", said Doni Monardo, Friday, April 2.

According to him, Bali has become a storefront for Indonesia in the eyes of the world. The good and bad handling of COVID-19 in Bali is said to have a profound impact on Indonesia's prestige in the eyes of the international community.

"For this reason, the President's direction is clear, Bali must be the top priority in handling COVID-19. The central (government) has committed to this from the start", he added.

From previous experience, foreigners are not fully disciplined in implementing the health protocols. Moreover, recently, a new strain of the COVID-19 virus emerged which made several countries lockdown again.

Chairman of the COVID-19 Task Force Doni Monardo (IST)

"For that, we want the handling of travelers, especially foreigners in Bali, to be carried out in an integrated manner, by forming a special task force to handle quarantine", explained Doni Monardo.

"We must ensure the arrival of foreigners (free of COVID-19) with adequate diagnostics because if we ignore it, they will not apply the health protocols. Then there will definitely be an increase in cases", he added.

Even though the foreigner who arrives has brought a letter of negative COVID-19 information from the country of origin, this does not guarantee that they will be free of COVID-19.

"After being quarantined for 5 days, the second swab test, what happened next? There were still 658 people who tested positive for COVID-19. The question is, where did you expose to it? It could be that they had not been infected when they left their country, or they could be exposed to the virus on the plane", said Doni.

Doni fully supports the implementation of the discipline of health protocols with administrative sanctions or fines to deportation for foreigners who are found violating.

"I would appreciate this assertiveness because basically we still have to maintain the safety of our citizens. And don't let us get infected because of them (foreigners). The existing sanctions are quite good and fair, it is just a matter of implementation", he said.