In a shock announcement on 1st December, Indonesian officials announced that despite increasing quarantine from 3 days to 7 days on 29th November, a measly 2 days later, they are changing the goalposts again, increasing quarantine from 7 days to 10 days.
The decision to extend the quarantine from 3 days to 10 is in reaction to the new Omicron Covid variant that has been found in a variety of countries across the globe. Indonesian authorities are intent on ensuring Omicrom does not reach Indonesian shores and have therefore extended the quarantine accordingly.
The news announcement was made on 1st December; advising the new quarantine would take effect on 3rd December; however, they failed to release an updated circular, leaving many confused as to whether this was an official announcement or speculation. An official circular was finally released in the evening of 2nd December, placing the new quarantine regulations into effect immediately.
Check out the official circular below; please note, no official English version has been released:
SATGAS Nomo 23 Year 2021 Quarantine 10 Days
Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs & Investment broke the news stating: “Of course, the policies taken will continue to be evaluated periodically while we continue to understand and explore information about this new variant”.
The news is not good news for travellers who had Christmas plans, leaving many the difficult decision as to either cancel their travel plans to Indonesia or spend it in quarantine.
Last week, Indonesian officials also advised that PPKM (Social Restrictions) across Indonesia were raised to Level 3, but still have not released information regarding what this actually means for travellers travelling domestically. We will update our social media and news outlets accordingly when available. Christmas and New Years across the country are expected to be muted in an effort to ensure no third wave or new covid variants sweeps the nation.
Additionally, news earlier this week advised the temporary ban for foreigners entering the country from South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambuque, Namibia, Eswatini & Lesotho.
Check out our recent article about which countries were banned here:
Indonesia extends quarantine to 7 days and temporarily bans 11 nationalities
As always, we will do our part in providing accurate and relevant information as and when it happens. Please note, we are still learning the ins and outs regarding the new announcement, we will update this article and social media threads with more information when we have it.
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