Jakarta, Feb. 7 (BNA) Indonesia has temporarily banned entry of foreign tourists through Jakarta airport, in an attempt to slow the rise in the number of Omicron coronavirus infections, the Indonesian Ministry of Transport said.
The Southeast Asian country saw a jump in the number of cases, with more than 36,000 infections recorded on Sunday and the occupancy rate of beds in hospitals in the capital reaching 63 percent, Reuters reported.
The move to ban tourists from traveling to Jakarta comes just days after Bali welcomed the first international flight in nearly two years carrying foreign visitors.
The ministry said in a statement issued late on Sunday that the new regulations apply to foreign and Indonesian tourists who have traveled abroad for vacation.
Novi Rianto, director general of civil aviation at the ministry, said the decision to “temporarily restrict tourist arrivals” was aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.
Tourists traveling from abroad will still be able to get to Bali airport, as well as in Batam and Tanjung Pinang on the Riau Islands near Singapore.
Police also imposed a curfew in downtown Jakarta from midnight to 4 a.m. as infections continued to rise.
Indonesian officials have warned that the increase in cases led by the Omicron variant may not peak until late February.
Despite these concerns, the island of Bali welcomed a flight from Tokyo last Thursday carrying six foreigners, mostly travel agents who were on board to monitor the island’s readiness to receive foreign tourists.
Bali officially opened to foreign visitors from 19 countries last October, but with no non-cargo flights until last week, foreign tourists have been restricted.
MI