The Jakarta Globe reports that the Indonesian Government is considering reducing the current eight-day quarantine period for international passengers arriving in Indonesia to a less burdensome period of only five days.
Indonesian Coordinating Minister for the Economy
The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartono, indicated that President Joko Widodo supported a reduction in the mandatory quarantine period when the topic was discussed in a cabinet meeting on Thursday, 07 October 2021.
Any final decision to reduce the length of the quarantine period would require prior consultation and agreement from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the
Alexander Kaliaga Ginting, a key member of the National Task Force for COVID-19, confirmed that changing the quarantine period would also require input from qualified virologists. Ginting expressed concern that should the COVID-19 virus be found to have a longer incubation period, shortening the quarantine period could be fraught with danger.
While Bali awaits the confirmation of direct flights from China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, or the UK to begin receiving international travelers, 35 quarantine hotels have been put in readiness to house travelers for the required eight days before being allowed freedom of movement in Bali.
Local travel observers in Bali are expressing concern that the financial cost and time needed to quarantine for eight days will significantly diminish the size of any potential foreign market destined for the popular holiday island. For these reasons, travel stakeholders in Bali are urging that the quarantine period be reduced to a more manageable two-day period.
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