Dozens of Chinese tourists in Bali are reportedly applying to extend their stay permits amid the novel coronavirus outbreak in their country.
According to the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office, at least 76 Chinese tourists filed their application yesterday. Some of them are required to pay penalties for overstaying before proceeding to apply for visa extensions, as reported by Kompas.
“We will extend their visa for a month. Every visa-on-arrival can be extended once for a 30-day stay permit,” Sutrisno, an official from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, said.
There are around 3,000 Chinese tourists still in Bali, following a flight restriction enforced by the Indonesian government for travelers going to and coming from China.
On Saturday, China’s Consulate-General in Bali chartered a flight and repatriated 61 of their citizens back to Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in that country.
The novel coronavirus, now officially named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization, has now killed more than 1,100 people and infected over 44,000 as of this morning. The disease has so far affected at least 27 other countries around the world, including Singapore and Malaysia. Indonesia has yet to confirm a COVID-19 case in the country.
Read more news and updates from Bali here.
