The Indonesian government has extended the Bali quarantine period for international visitors to 7 days to prevent the transmission of the newest and more contagious Covid-19 variant.
The Central Government, through the Coordinator of Maritime and Investment Minister, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, has altered the entrance requirement policy by increasing the quarantine period for overseas visitors to seven days. This lengthy quarantine was implemented as a preventative measure to halt the spread of the new Covid-19 strain known as Omicron. According to preliminary studies, the new variation discovered lately in South Africa and now all across the world may be more transmissible and resistant to vaccinations.
Compared to the 3 days of quarantine implemented previously, Luhut has extended the quarantine period to 7 days for international travelers and Indonesian citizens who have recently traveled from other countries outside of Indonesia. Travelers who have recently traveled from 11 high-risk countries for transmission of the Omicron variant such as Hong Kong South Africa Malawi Angola Namiia Botswana Eswatini Mozamique Zimawe and Lesotho must now spend 14 day quarantine upon arrival.
The head of Badung Hotels and Restaurants Association IGN Rai Suryawijaya said the policy was a very good anticipatory step to head off the third wave of Covid19 transmission in Bali. “We can fully understand that this new variant of Covid19 has become the third wave of transmission of Covid19 in several European countries and in Israel. ” Suryawijaya said on Monday (November 29).
However, he claims that the new policy would have a negative impact on the Bali tourism industry. Bali is also facing a partial lockdown for the holidays, and tourism enterprises will be subject to stricter safeguards and operate with fewer limitations.
Bali quarantine impacts businesses
“I have to admit that this will have an impact on our tourism industry as people will become more reluctant to travel, but there will probably be a few domestic tourists arriving in December. Suryawijaya concluded.
We can only hope that tourism goes back to normal to this popular island destination.