The Indonesian government has issued a number of significant relaxations to its international travel and lockdown policies following continuous improvements in the country鈥檚 COVID-19 situation.
On Tuesday, November 2, 2021, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued Minister of Home Affairs Instruction (Inmendagri) No. 57/2021 on the amendment to Minister of Home Affairs Instruction No. 53/2021 on the implementation of PPKM Level 3 to Level 1 in Java and Bali. The instruction extends the country鈥檚 lockdown policy known as PPKM to November 15, 2021. However, the instruction also stipulates a number of significant relaxations, such as the downgrading of the lockdown level in the country鈥檚 capital city of Jakarta to level 1 from level 3 previously.
This means that non-essential businesses are allowed to have 75% of its workforce to work from the office as long as they have been vaccinated. Shopping centers and certain service-oriented businesses, such as public transports, can now operate at 100% capacity, while restaurants and public facilities, such as public parks, are allowed to operate with 75% capacity or just above the 50% capacity implemented in the previous lockdown rule.
The Instruction further reaffirms the government鈥檚 decision to allow those who have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19 who are travelling into and from Java or Bali to only require a negative COVID-19 Antigen test result that is valid for 1x24-hour at the time of departure. This is an apparent backtrack from the very recent announcement that the Indonesian government will make PCR test mandatory for all travelers travelling by air. The country鈥檚 COVID-19 Task Force later reaffirms this decision by the issuance of Circular No. 22/2021 on the provisions on domestic travelling during the COVID-10 pandemic, which echoed the antigen requirement as stated by the Inmendagri.
Aside from Jakarta, the capital of East Java province of Surabaya also saw its PPKM level downgraded to level 1, along with the cities of Blitar, Mojokerto, Madiun, and Pasuruan. The major cities of Yogyakarta, Bandung, as well as the whole province Bali are still under PPKM level 2 however.
Additionally, the COVID-19 Task Force has issued an Amendment to COVID-19 Task Force Circular No. 20/2021 on health protocols for international travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Circular stipulates the reduction of quarantine period for Indonesians and foreigners, including diplomats and chief foreign representatives who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and who are flying into Indonesia, to 3x24 hours from 8x24 hours previously.
The issuance of these regulations follows the continuous improvement in the COVID-19 situation in Indonesia. In the last few weeks, Indonesia鈥檚 COVID-19 positivity rate has continued to remain at record lows having fallen to its lowest point of 4.57% in September 2021, or below the WHO benchmark standard of 5%, from a peak of 33.4% in June 2021 when the country became Asia鈥檚 coronavirus epicenter due to highly contagious Delta variant.
Nevertheless, the Indonesian government continues to urge Indonesian citizens to take measures to prevent another possible corona outbreak by continuing to wear face masks when conducting outdoor daily activities, as well as to avoid crowded events and public areas.