JAKARTA, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government on Monday announced that the quarantine period for fully vaccinated international travelers is cut from seven to five days, amid soaring daily cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said that the infections of the Omicron variant in the country now do not only come from imported cases like in the few weeks at the beginning of the third wave of COVID-19, but are spreading through local transmissions.
This policy is carried out as various researches show that the incubation period of this variant is around three days, Pandjaitan told a virtual press conference. "We need to reallocate the (medical) resources we have."
Most of the beds in quarantine centers for international visitors arriving in the archipelagic country now will be used to isolate asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic coronavirus patients, Pandjaitan added.
Foreigners without full COVID-19 vaccinations are not allowed to enter this Southeast Asian country, while Indonesians who return to their homeland but have just received the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccines must undergo quarantine for seven days. ■