Indonesia is scrapping its quarantine mandate for international travelers, its tourism minister said, as it moves to abolish nearly all COVID-19 restrictions to enter the country.
In a press conference on Monday afternoon, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno said the government is expanding a no-quarantine policy for international travelers nationwide.
The government said it has trialed the policy in tourism hotspots Bali, Batam and Bintan for a couple of weeks to much success and, most importantly, few COVID-19 infections.
“[They will need] only negative entry PCR test [results to enter Indonesia],” he said.
He added that new guidelines for travel will be published by the end of March 22, 2022 at the latest.
Indonesia’s international travel quarantine policy has been enforced throughout most of the pandemic, ranging in period from three days to two weeks depending on the severity of the health crisis at any given time. The policy applied to both foreign travelers and returning Indonesians from abroad.
Under the government’s no quarantine trial in Bali, travelers who are fully vaccinated (double jabbed) or have received booster shots have been allowed to enter the holiday island through Ngurah Rai Airport without having to check into hotel isolation for several days.
Indonesia also reactivated its visa on arrival (VOA) scheme for travelers from 23 countries to enter Bali, having suspended the concession since the onset of the pandemic.
Bali has slowly but surely seen a rise in the number of foreign travelers and direct international flights since the trial period began earlier this month.
Indonesia reported 4,699 new COVID-19 infections today — its lowest count since the peak of the Omicron wave in late February.
