Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has announced that officials are prohibited from going abroad, while quarantine for international arrivals will be extended to 10 days.
According to the official website of the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investments, this is to prevent transmission of the Omicron variant which is spreading in a number of countries.
Based on President Jokowi’s directives, the quarantine period for foreigners and Indonesian citizens travelling from countries outside the 11 prohibited countries will also be increased to 10 days from the previous seven. This quarantine extension will take effect from 3rd December 2021.
To anticipate further, the government, according to Luhut, will now also prepare a third booster vaccine aimed at the elderly and vulnerable groups.
“The booster will be scheduled soon and will start in January next year,” he explained.
The prohibition against state officials applies to all levels of office, except for those carrying out important state duties. Meanwhile, for the general public, Luhut appealed to the public not to travel abroad at this time.
“Obviously the policies will continue to be evaluated periodically while we continue to understand and explore information about this new variant,” concluded Luhut.