The COVID-19 Handling Task Force has said that around 3,000 international travelers are entering Indonesia every day.
This is creating challenges with quarantine locations due to the duration and the availability of rooms.
“The challenge is the long quarantine period,”
said Head of Behaviour Change for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force Sonny B. Harmadi in an MNC Trijaya discussion that was broadcast online on Saturday 18th December.
According to Sonny, the current health quarantine capacity in Indonesia is around 20,000 rooms. That number isn’t sufficient to accommodate the expected arrival of about 3,000 people every day.
Currently, both Indonesian citizens and foreigners who come from abroad are required to undergo a 10-day quarantine period. Further, Indonesian citizens and foreigners who have visited a country confirmed to have an Omicron case are required to be quarantined for 14 days.
“Because of the long quarantine period, of course, we need more facilities, because room turnover is definitely slower,” said Sonny.
“Therefore, the challenge is how to prepare adequate quarantine facilities in the midst of inflows from abroad, especially Indonesian citizens who are returning home in quite large numbers.”
Previously, the Directorate General of Immigration at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights Ministry noted that 37,214 Indonesian citizens had gone abroad before Christmas and the New Year. Meanwhile, there were 40,557 Indonesian citizens who arrived in Indonesia from abroad.
The data is the entry and exit information from Indonesia through Soekarno Hatta International Airport for the period 1st – 16th December 2021.
The COVID-19 Task Force also appealed to Indonesian citizens who are currently abroad to temporarily postpone their return to their homeland. This follows the discovery of an Omicron case in Indonesia.
Currently, the number of Omicron COVID-19 cases in Indonesia has increased to three. The two additional Omicron variant COVID-19 patients are the results of the examination of samples from five probable Omicron cases who recently returned from abroad.