The Government Will Remove The Obligation For Entry Tests At Airports Except For COVID-19 Suspects

JAKARTA - The government plans to abolish the COVID-19 test or entry test policy for foreign travelers upon arrival at the airport. This is one of the relaxation efforts to increase the number of trips during the pandemic.

"We will also relax the PPLN entry test rules for entering Indonesia, so that the number of incoming flights can increase without causing a buildup at the airport," said Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan at a PPKM press conference, Monday, April 4.

Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto explained that later foreign travelers (PPLN) who had just arrived would no longer need to do an entry test.

PPLN, said Airlangga, was only required to show a negative COVID-19 test result from the country of origin, then his body temperature would be checked. When their body temperature is high or is declared a suspect for COVID-19, they are only required to carry out a PCR test.

"This is the requirement as soon as you want to come, 2x24 hour PCR. However, when you arrive in Indonesia, it is free, except for those with a high temperature, for example 37.5 (degrees celsius) directly PCR. Meanwhile, the others are no longer needed," said Airlanga. .

Airlangga said the government had also re-implemented a visa-free policy specifically for tourists from countries from the Southeast Asian region or ASEAN.

"The President's direction is that visas for ASEAN are visa-free for return and other countries are visa on arrival (VoA)," said Airlangga.