Vaccination a Requisite for Travel

KOMPAS/KRISTI DWI UTAMI

Officers prepare to inject the Covid-19 vaccine to fishermen and fishery business actors at the Karya Mina cooperative building, Tegalsari Village, West Tegal District, Tegal City, Central Java, Tuesday (10/8/2021).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Starting on Wednesday (11/8/2021), COVID-19 vaccination will be a requirement for traveling in the country to prevent the spread of the disease through people’s mobility.

“This is in line with the policy to extend the PPKM [emergency public activity restrictions],” national COVID-19 task force spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito said in Jakarta on Tuesday (10/8).

In COVID-19 Task Force Circular No. 17/2021, people arriving from outside Java and Bali to the two regions or vice versa have to have had at least their first vaccine dose. Additionally, air travelers must also have taken a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test no later than 48 hours before traveling.

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Meanwhile, those who want to travel within Java and Bali by plane must have received two vaccine doses and take an antigen test no more than 24 hours before their travel time. Those who have only received their first vaccine dose have to take a PCR test within 48 hours of traveling. For other modes of transportation, those who have only received their first jab must take a PCR test or antigen test, respectively, within 48 hours and 24 hours before their journey.

The regulation was made following the government’s decision taken at a Cabinet meeting led by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Monday (9/8) to extend COVID-19 curbs. The PPKM policy in Java and Bali has been extended to 16 August 2021. Meanwhile, restrictions outside Java and Bali have been extended to 23 August.

“The government continues to work hard to control the pandemic throughout Indonesia,” Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said during an online press conference with Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto and Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin on Monday.

TANGKAPAN LAYAR AKUN RESMI SEKRETARIAT PRESIDEN DI KANAL YOUTUBE

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin gave an online statement after a limited meeting on the handling of Covid-19 led by President Joko Widodo, Monday (2/8/2021).

The previous extension of PPKM level 4, 3 and 2 in Java and Bali from 2 to 9 August is claimed to show encouraging results.

Airlangga said that nationwide, there had been a downward trend in COVID-19 cases, although the trend was dynamic.

“Nationally, [the number of new cases in] Java and Bali has decreased. Regions outside Java and Bali now contribute to 46.5 percent of the total national active cases,” Airlangga said.

Several provinces outside Java and Bali that experienced an increase in cases are North Sumatra, East Kalimantan, West Sumatra, Riau and Papua. Meanwhile, 10 other provinces experienced a decline in cases.

Change of policy

Budi added that the government would soon carry out a pilot project that regulated the details of the implementation of health protocols in six main activities, namely trade, offices and industrial areas, transportation, tourism, education and religious activities.

“It is very likely that this virus will live with us for a long time. As per the President’s instruction, we must plan a road map,” he said.

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President Jokowi, Budi continued, has instructed that health protocols be practical, that they can be applied digitally and secure our daily lives, which can be supported with the PeduliLindungi app. The pilot project will be implemented starting next week in several shopping malls.

Kompas/Priyombodo

Visitors scan the barcode from the Care Protect application as a condition for entering the Plaza Blok M shopping center, Jakarta on the first day it opens during the Enforcement of Community Activity Restrictions or PPKM level 4, Tuesday (10/8/2021). However, restaurant visitors have not been able to eat on the premises and the capacity of the mall is limited to 25 percent of visitors.

The government is testing out the reopening of malls and shopping centers in level 4 regions.

The trial will be conducted in Jakarta, Bandung in West Java, Surabaya in East Java and Semarang in Central Java with a 25 percent capacity over the next week with strict health protocols. Only those who have been vaccinated can enter malls. Children under the age of 12 and residents over the age of 70 will be prohibited from entering.

Death tally

The government is reminded that death toll is a highly important indicator in mitigating the pandemic.

“The death toll cannot be excluded as an important indicator of a pandemic. If the data is inaccurate or the input is delayed, it should be corrected, not omitted. The decisions made by ignoring such data can actually be inaccurate,” Griffith University epidemiologist Dicky Budiman said in response to the statement made by Luhut at a press conference on Monday.

The minister said that there were 26 cities and regencies whose PPKM levels had successfully dropped from level 4 to level 3.

The death toll cannot be excluded as an important indicator of a pandemic.

“We carried out this evaluation after excluding the fatality indicator from our assessment because we found that the accumulation of the fatality tally over the past few weeks had distorted [our] assessment,” said Luhut.

According to Dicky, the death rate is an important indicator to measure the severity of the outbreak.

“By ruling out the data, we will lose a very important indicator to find out the severity of the impact of the pandemic,” he said.

Meanwhile, Iwan Ariawan, an epidemiologist from the University of Indonesia’s Public Health School said there had been discussions about the incorrect reporting of mortality, such as a delay in data input processes and the possibility of duplicated data.

“It [the error] must be fixed, not removed,” Iwan said.

This article was translated by Camilia Adianti.