Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan on Monday made it clear that the government would not be complacent about the current COVID-19 situation and had prepared steps to face possible case surges in the future.

“The President reminded us all in this morning’s meeting to remain vigilant and be alert for possible case surges,” said Luhut in a virtual press conference on September 20.

He added that Indonesia will tighten entry points into the country in order to prevent the spread of new COVID-19 variants such as the Lamda and the Mu variants. Luhut also assertted that international visitors could only enter the country from Jakarta and Manado.

The public activity restrictions (PPKM) have been extended again for a ninth time since July 21, which will see restrictions enforced in the country’s most populated islands of Java and Bali for another two weeks.

New restrictions were initially introduced on a weekly basis but after cases were able to be controlled the government decided to update its PPKM policies biweekly.

Source: tempo.co