Government Shortens Quarantine Time For Foreign Travelers Entering Indonesia To 5 Days

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JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menkomarves) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said the government had shortened the quarantine duration for travelers from abroad (PPLN) to Indonesia.

Initially, all PPLN arriving in Indonesia were required to quarantine for 7 days. Now, the quarantine period is 5 days.

"The government has changed the 7-day quarantine rule to 5 days with a note that Indonesian citizens and foreigners who enter Indonesia must have complete vaccinations," Luhut said in a virtual press conference, Monday, January 31.

However, if Indonesian citizens have just received the first dose of vaccination, they still have to undergo a 7-day quarantine.

Luhut revealed that the change in the tightening rate of the spread of the Omicron variant from imported cases was carried out from the criteria for the incubation period of this new variant.

"This policy is implemented considering that most of the PPLN variants are Omicron and various studies have shown that the incubation period for this variant is in the range of 3 days," Luhut explained.

Luhut said that this step to reduce the duration of quarantine also takes into account the need to reallocate the resources we have. This is because local transmission cases are also starting to increase.

"The guesthouse which was previously used for PPLN quarantine will be prepared for centralized isolation (isoter) in line with the predicted increase in isoter demand for positive confirmed cases of OTG and mild symptoms," said Luhut.