Antigen And PCR Requirements For Mandatory Have Been Abolished, DPR: At This Time It Can Be Said That The Pandemic Is Endemic, But The Virus Cannot Be Predicted

JAKARTA - Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR), Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, welcomed the government's policy to abolish the mandatory requirements for antigen and PCR tests for travellers. This decision was taken in line with the decline in COVID-19 cases on a national scale.

The most important thing, according to Dasco, is that the abolition of the regulation is also accompanied by an additional requirement, namely that you must receive at least two complete doses of vaccination.

"I think it's good to implement, the most important thing is how people don't take the Coronavirus lightly, they must remain vigilant. Because we know it (COVID-19) sometimes goes up, sometimes it goes down, sometimes it's a malignant variant, sometimes like Omicron. We are absolutely sure that the Coronavirus has indeed weakened," Dasco said at the DPR building, Wednesday, March 9. Regarding the new regulation as the pandemic transitions to endemic, Dasco reminded that the Coronavirus is still unpredictable. The reason is when cases start to decline, new variants appear again.

"If you look at the situation, the variants that exist, of course, from pandemic to endemic are possible, but fluctuating viruses, we can't predict," said Dasco.

"Right now we can say from pandemic to endemic, but at other times we can't predict," continued the Daily Chair of the Gerindra Party.

Therefore, Dasco appealed to all Indonesian people for some time to continue to carry out strict health protocols. "It still has to be applied to yourself, family members and those around you," said Dasco.

As previously reported, the government has renewed the rules for domestic travel by sea and land. As of March 7, 2022, domestic travel provisions for fully vaccinated perpetrators no longer need to show evidence of negative antigen or PCR tests.

This was conveyed by the Java Bali Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) Coordinator Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan at a ministerial press conference regarding the PPKM Evaluation Results, March 7, 2022.

"Today the government will implement the following policies. First, domestic travelers using sea or land transportation who have carried out the second and complete dose of vaccination, no longer need to show evidence of negative antigen or PCR tests," he said.