The Indonesian government plans to extend the quarantine period for Malaysian citizens who enter Indonesia from five days to 14 days.
The plan has emerged in response to the lockdown policy that is currently being implemented in the neighbouring country.
Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force Wiku Adisasmito said the inspection policy in a number of border areas and entrances had been implemented for a long time for foreign nationals.
However, currently, the Indonesian government is preparing a special policy for foreigners from countries experiencing a spike in their COVID-19 cases, including Malaysia.
“In particular, the quarantine will be longer. So far it is planned to be 14 days, but it has not been officially determined.
Later, when it is updated, we will immediately inform the media,” said Wiku.
He added that the temporary policy plan was being considered because the development of the COVID-19 case was very dynamic. Various steps were being anticipated in response to changing situations.
There is no certainty when this policy regarding Malaysia will be officially announced.
Recently, the Malaysian government had announced a lockdown policy that will be in place between 1-14th June 2021. With this policy, most factories and shopping centres are going to be closed.
People will only be allowed to travel within a 10-kilometre radius of their homes. Residents will only be allowed to leave their house to buy essentials such as staples, medicines, and to carry out banking matters.
Currently, Malaysia is recording a record increase of daily cases of up to 7,000 per day. This means that Malaysia is currently the country with the highest daily COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia, higher than either Indonesia or the Philippines.